I'll Find You Some People To Eat
by Nezz.San
Summary: A young woman named Joy is has turned into a being that eats humans. Continuously struggling with her morals of eating people, being trained to become a mercenary, and having to cope with a sadistic partner, Joy goes through super power leveling character development to go from normal to something... very... *spoilers*
1. Chapter 1

I'll Find You Some People To Eat

… In return, you'll have to work for me."

That's what the disgustingly sadistic man said to me as he pressed his boot against my head, grinding it against the wet dirt floor. His sword dug a sliver deep into my neck, as a slight amount of blood dripped from the wound.

If I refused the man's offer, I'm sure he wouldn't think twice about bringing that sword across my neck. No one would really mind. Not for a life like mine.

My name is Joy, and I am a Zombi…

In the year 20XX, mankind no longer held its place at the top of the food chain. A new predator gradually came into existence, a being called Zombi. No one knew what they numbered or how they first originated. They were monsters that could only live by devouring human beings.

I was human… I was completely human…

And then some idiot hit me with his car….

Damn it…

Damn it…

And now I'm a Zombi that's being blackmailed by this devil in human skin.

"Well?" the man asks me again.

He looks down at me with indifferent eyes that shout "Honestly, I don't give a damn what you choose! Just hurry up and make a decision!".

His name is Deadman and he is a Slayer. A cold blooded mercenary that I would tie myself to for the rest of my life.

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Top of the Food Chain

Joy was 24 years old, worked as a coder for a computer company, had a slimly cut figure, shoulder length black hair, and was admitted to a general hospital. After being hit by a drunk driver in broad daylight, she was in critical condition and put on life support. She wouldn't hold out for long. A major organ had been crushed in the accident, and she required a transplant.

Her doctor sighed as he looked over the medical report. The donor waitlist was long, and Joy would only be stable for a few more days. Factoring the time it took to ship the organ she needed, depending on where the donor came from, and of course, accounting for the long queue in front of her, chances she would survive were less than slim.

The doctor's phone rang and interrupted his thoughts. He picked it up and was immediately met with a voice that began speaking rapidly. The information was that a black market trade house had recently been raided. What did the warehouse store? Human organs by the bulk load. Harvested from who knows who and god knows where.

The thing about organs is they're like any other kind of meat. They go bad quick, and they suffer extensive damage when frozen for long periods of time. While the ideal response to finding stolen body parts would be to return them to their rightful owners, the body parts would spoil by the time they found and made their way back to their original possessors.

Unethical? Yes. But better than letting them go to waste. The doctor immediately requested an organ for his patient. The courier made it in time and the operation that followed was a success. The girl would live.

Joy would live.

It was a miracle. An ideal happy ending to a hopeless situation. For the innocent girl who had committed no wrong, it was a conclusion she deserved.

But fate rarely shows any semblance of kindness or rationale for fair play.

Joy was recovering well and was set to be released within a month. She healed at an abnormally fast pace. That should have been the first indication that all wasn't going to be as it should. Joy shoved food in her mouth, and found that it all tasted disgustingly bland. When she went to the restroom, the food was excreted undigested. All chewed up, but more or less, left the way it originally was.

The ominous signs caused Joy great anxiety. She prepared to tell her doctor about her symptoms and asked to speak with him. While waiting for her doctor, she saw a news report on the TV of her room. In front of her bed, she listened to the news anchor's words.

"The government has released new information on the monsters called Zombis. Research has found that they do not possess the ability to digest any kind of known edible. When force fed anything nonhuman, the Zombis either regurgitated or expelled the food, undigested. Scientists are conducting further examinations as to the reasons for the Zombi's specific diet."

Joy felt the color drain from her face. She outright rejected the possibility and began conjuring numerous reasons for her condition. While desperately grabbing at all kinds of alternatives, the sound of a door opening interrupted her thoughts.

The doctor entered the room and Joy reflexively turned off the TV. After some discussion about her status and small talk, she chose not to tell the doctor about her digestion problems. Joy knew that if she was identified as a Zombi, she would be shipped off to some research facility, or worse, simply killed out of fear.

Under the constant weight of paranoia and fear, time passed, and Joy was eventually released from the hospital. A welcome back party was held for her, but she could not bring herself to enjoy it. Surrounded by her family and friends, she could only wear a fake smile as she felt internally tormented.

As soon as her guests left, she immediately began researching about Zombis. They needed to eat at least one person every 1 ½- 2 months. While many had the urge to eat more than the minimum and go on so called binge eating marathons, others ate with a calculated pace to avoid revealing themselves as little as possible. The specifics for the infection to become a Zombi were not known, though some cases were found that in the event of a large blood transfusion, a person could potentially become a Zombi.

Joy thought about her organ transplant. That must have been how she became infected. It had been a month since the operation. So that meant she would die of starvation within half a month of so? Her stomach had hardly let out a growl while she was in the hospital, despite consuming nothing. As soon as she was out and among crowds of people, she began to feel her first small tinge of hunger.

It's not that bad. I don't have to eat… people…

I'll find some sort of alternative. There's got to be something I can eat…

Eat…

Joy ached as she remembered how much she actually missed food. The taste. Her favorite foods were like soft rubber in her mouth now.

How ironic is that… I even went on a diet before. How stupid is that?

Over the next couple of weeks, Joy started sampling different delicacies. She researched various meats, animals, spices, anything at all that could allow her to digest food. She even got her hands on some monkey, but it was all for naught. As the days went by, Joy began to feel an unquenchable hunger that clawed at the back of her thoughts.

The craving slowly but surely took over her mind. She'd walk outside and instinctively pick out certain people in crowds who would make for good meals. Her appetite constantly conflicted with her morals. She sometimes thought she would rather die than eat another human being. Other times, she rationalized that it would be okay.

There's plenty of instances when people were forced into cannibalism. The Donner's Party is a prime example. Animals eat their own species all the time. Humans eat animals. Why can't something exist to eat humans?

What's so wrong about that…

…

WHAT'S SO WRONG ABOUT THAT?!

As soon as she finished the thought, Joy curled into a ball and began to cry. Her nails dug into a pillow while her teeth gnawed at it in agitation. Many following nights were spent wide awake, biting on objects in an attempt to abate the hunger.

As Joy was walking through the streets one night, making her way to a new restaurant to try a different delicacy, an intense smell entered her nose.

Blood.

Her breath became bated and her heart thumped in her chest. Primal instincts were shouting that high quality prey was near. Near and wounded. Attracted to the scent that wafted through her nose, Joy began making her way to the source. Her walking quickly turned into a run. On the way, she noticed that her body was moving faster than it had ever been in her life. It possessed coordination that outperformed her old abilities by several folds. Joy thought back to her research.

Zombis possessed super human abilities. Enhanced speed and strength. The five senses also increased in their acuity and the fabled animalistic sixth sense was also heavily developed.

Like an animal huh…

This sad thought invaded her mind briefly before Joy suddenly realized that she had been running for a while now. She couldn't help but be amazed at how far she had smelled the blood from. It had been at least a couple of miles.

And then she arrived at the scene. A young girl, no more than fourteen had a large gash in her leg. Helpless on the ground, a black hooded man was crouching over her. Even though the man had a human body, his posture, the way he bared his teeth under the hood, everything was akin to an animal peering over its prey.

He's a Zombi…


	2. The Deadman

**Chapter 2: The Deadman**

The young man was reading a book at a coffee shop. He was in his mid-twenties, heavily clothed, unfashionable, wore large spectacles, and kept a neat hairstyle. He gave off an air of timidity and anyone who saw him could only describe him as unassuming. A textbook example of a bookworm.

Although the young man was a heavy reader, he was constantly sneaking looks at a beautiful girl sitting at another table. She had long flowing hair and a cute white dress that complimented her looks and figure. The girl was around the same age, and was reading a book with the same author of the book the he was reading.

The young man looked as if he wanted to talk to her, but seemed to have little experience with women. At one point, the beauty looked over and their eyes met. While she stared at him with curiosity, the young man quickly looked away with a nervous abruptness.

Seeing the book he was reading, the girl smiled gently as if filling in the blanks. The situation screamed that the young man wanted to strike up a conversation with her about their similar interests in authors, but was too shy to do so.

The girl went over to introduce herself. Her name was Rosalyn and found out that the bookworm's name was Michael. Their conversation started off a bit strained, but after some small talk, the two's conversation began to flow naturally.

Finally, Michael decided to ask Rosalyn on a date. A new work by their mutually interested author had recently come out, and they decided to go to the book store together.

They met up the next day and began their date. It was so arbitrarily normal that it was somewhat boring. First, they picked up their respective copies and browsed the store. Next, they decided to watch a movie that was playing nearby. After that, they had dinner and before they knew it, the day was already over.

While walking the girl nervously home, Michael asked something very bold. In front of Rosalyn's apartment complex, he decided to make his move.

"Um… is it okay if I come in?!" he blurted out loudly.

For a second, they only stared blankly at each other.

"I'm sorry! I didn't really mean that! I just… I've never been with a girl before, especially one so pretty, and I kind of just lost my mind for a second!"(Michael)

Michael was speaking in a panick, while Rosalyn could only giggle. The young man continued to explain himself rapidly and further dug the hole for himself. Foreseeing his imminent self-destruction, the girl interrupted him politely.

"It's fine. You don't seem like a bad guy, so come on up," she said simply.

The young man was completely slack jawed at his great fortune. Rosalyn giggled again as they made their way up the tall apartment complex.

During the elevator ride, Michael shifted nervously and cleaned his glasses for the umpteenth time. Her place was located on the 16th floor of the high class luxury complex.

They arrived at her apartment and entered an almost pitch black corridor. At the end of the short entrance way, was the living room that glowed with a red light of the setting sun.

The young man nervously walked that way. He heard the electronic door switch to LOCK, but paid it no attention. A thin smile cut across Rosalyn's face. As he came upon the living room, a vivid scene unfolded before him.

Two of the walls were all glass windows, which the red sunlight shone through. Rosalyn had expensive looking furniture and a large plasma screen TV positioned across from a long sofa. But that was not the most striking thing about the living room.

From the ceiling hung several dead corpses. Like a scene of a mass suicide, the bodies hung from their necks, and possessed an eerie stillness. Some seemed whole and preserved, others were missing limbs, a few of them had dried blood, while others had their blood dripping on the floor.

*Pit pat*

The scene of death was further accented by the blood red setting sun behind them.

Rosalyn placed a hand gently on Michael's shoulder and spoke in a sinisterly playful manner.

"Quite a beautiful sight, isn't it? Like something out of a horror movie~?"(Rosalyn)

She laughed without restraint and went towards one of the bodies. Rosalyn swiped a finger across the blood running down the dead corpse and licked it. She sighed happily as if she had taken a sip of fine vintage wine, while looking at the setting sun.

She loved the feeling of catching new prey. Making them feel fear and seeing the despair on their faces. From the back, the woman looked like the devil. Thinking about how easy it was to lure the young man here, added to the satisfaction. She waited for that sound, that pathetic yelp or blood rushing scream. While savoring the moment to come, Michael began to speak up behind her.

"Ah~ So you really _were_ the one behind the recent killings…" a voice came over disinterestedly.

Rosalyn quickly turned around to see Michael scratching his head as if looking bored. His demeanor was completely different from the timid bookworm impression that he had before. He looked around at the bodies like examining a textbook he was required to read. Taking off his large glasses and ruffling his neatly styled hair, Michael turned his eyes toward Rosalyn.

"What-?"(Rosalyn)

"Slayer," Michael had interrupted her question. "You know what that is right?"

The young man wore a cheerful smile and a cold sweat streaked down Rosalyn's back. Michael continued speaking without hearing her answer.

"Some good acting, right? Honestly, I didn't expect it to go so well, but you Zombi's always seem have a foolish amount of overconfidence," he said casually. "But man, I really have no luck with women, hahaha!"

Rosalyn tensed her legs as she readied to either attack or run. Before she could determine a course of action, the matter was abruptly settled. A knife struck firmly between her eyebrows. The Slayer had made a quick draw to his hidden pocket and launched the blade in one fluid motion. At the distance they were at, the likelihood of missing was very small due to his well-honed skills. Victory was guaranteed and calculated from the very beginning.

Rosalyn's body collapsed lifelessly to the floor. No gasping or melodramatic last words. Just a puppet who had its strings unceremoniously cut.

The young man walked over and stomped on her brains to confirm that his prey was truly dead.

His real name was, of course, not Michael. He had abandoned his real name a long time ago.

Now, he was the Slayer named Deadman.

He nudged one of the dead bodies hanging from the ceiling and it swung slowly.

"Shitty living room decoration…."


	3. Did You Want To Share Eating This Girl?

**Chapter 3: Did You Want To Share Eating This Girl?**

Joy stood in shock as she watched the scene before her. A fourteen year old girl was on the ground with a deep gash in her leg. A black hooded man crouched over her like an animal. As twisted as the situation was, Joy's full attention was on the gash in the leg and the blood on the man's lips. How she wanted to have a taste of that girl's blood too.

_Shut the hell up! I've got to call the police!_

While thinking that, the little girl caught sight of Joy and looked with pleading eyes. The hooded man saw the change in expression and followed the direction of her stare. Normally, someone would be afraid if they had caught the attention of that molester looking man, but Joy felt no such fear. The man only looked at her with curiosity.

He tilted his head and began to speak.

"You're a Zombi… right? Um… did you want to share her or something?"(Hooded Zombi)

Joy was shocked to her core. The hooded man looked so twisted, like a deranged monster, but his voice was kind and filled with sincerity. It completely threw her off.

The little girl heard what he said and realized that Joy was not her salvation, but another predator. She was going to scream when the man quickly put a bloody hand over her mouth. Tears fell down her face, and on the man's hand, but he paid it no mind. Not a single shred of pity. Only looking at Joy in an oddly patient manner.

"You look hungry. Probably haven't fed in a while," he continued in a soft and comforting voice.

_No. I'm not doing this! _Joy argued inwardly.

"Let her go…Let the girl go!"(Joy)

The hooded man furrowed his eyes.

"Why?"(Hooded Zombi)

"LET HER GO!"(Joy)

Part of her was screaming at the man. Another part was screaming at herself because she wanted so much to eat the little girl as well.

After looking at Joy for a little longer, the hooded man decided to just ignore her and turned his attention to the girl. As he bared his teeth to bite down, Joy dashed toward him.

A kick hit the Hooded Zombi square in the ribs and he flew twenty feet away. He recovered quickly and glared at Joy with shining red eyes.

"SHE'S MINE!" he yelled as he charged towards Joy.

They began fighting, and the scene took a very surreal turn. Because of their enhanced physical abilities, every time they clashed, a body would fly a great distance. The hooded man began jumping around the walls to attack at different angles.

Joy was beginning to lose the fight. Though she probably had about the same body capability as the hooded man, he had more experience using them. The decisive blow came.

Joy's leg spun through the air and she fell to the ground. The hooded man had managed to tear off one of her legs with his enhanced strength. She looked up at the man in fear, expecting the final blow to come down and finish her off.

But the man only looked at her with pity. Even then, he only wanted to incapacitate her and not hurt her more than necessary. He turned around and walked back to where the fourteen year old girl was still lying. The gash must have prevented her from leaving.

"I'm not sure why you felt that you had to have the girl all to yourself, but I'll still give you an arm" (Hooded Zombi)

"Sorry~ but I will be taking all of that girl~" (?)

Everyone looked toward the source of the new voice. A rough young man with messy black hair stood at the entrance of the alleyway. He was carrying a straight sword in his right hand, and a few knives in his left.

"Hm. Now that I hear it out loud, it sounds like I'm a pedophile or something. Let's just pretend I didn't say that. But seriously though, that girl is coming with me," the man voiced matter of factly.

He began walking towards them seeming to possess not the slightest bit of care. The hooded zombi leapt towards him with great speed. As if predicting that exact action, the man threw one of the knives between his fingers and caught the Zombi square in the head. Without any pause in motion, he drew his sword and severed the hooded head from the body.

Not missing a beat, the man continued walking towards the little injured girl as if nothing had happened.

"Do you have a phone?"(?)

The girl, who was completely frightened to death, nodded shiveringly.

"Good. Mine ran out of battery."(?)

Without waiting, he began searching the girl's pockets rather intrusively and pulled out the phone. He punched in a few numbers and brought it to his ear. While the phone was ringing, he began talking to the girl again.

"Okay, that was kind of inappropriate but I really don't have the time to waste calming you down-" the receiver picked up. "Ah! Yes. Slayer 1003 Deadman. Need clean up, send an ambulance for a victim, track the GPS of this phone."

He looked at Joy who was still lying on the floor.

"There's another Zombi, which I am pursuing. I'm leaving the victim here alone, so get here before another Zombi shows up."(Deadman)

Before hearing a response, he tossed the phone to the little girl. The man then turned his attention to Joy and walked towards her. As soon as he got in front of her, he squatted down.

"Your leg's already regenerated. Were you planning a surprise attack or something?"(Deadman)

Joy looked down to where the hooded man had cut her leg off. While red and a little strained, it appeared that a new leg had grown from her previous stump. Although incredibly relieved, Joy could not help but feel a little sick as well.

_God damn it… I'm really not human anymore…_

She looked up at the squatting man and saw that he had a cheerful smile.

"Well, it's probably still a little wobbly so I guess we'll just have to do this."(Deadman)

He pulled her arm around him and lifted her up. The man then led her around the corner and into an empty park a few blocks down.

"Thank you," Joy said softly.

"No problem."(Deadman)

After they arrived in a completely deserted, and poorly lit area, he looked around to make sure no one was close by. Confirming that they were indeed alone, he then dropped her carelessly to the floor like a tired businessman dropping his briefcase after a long day of work.

The man then cut off her newly regenerated leg off without hesitation. Joy screamed in pain. He covered her mouth and forced her face in front of him. He began examining her like a jeweler appraising a diamond.

"You're not like other Zombis… Why is that?"(Deadman)

He forcefully turned her head left, and then right, examining her closely.

"You almost look human…" (Deadman)

Joy gritted her teeth. The hand covering her mouth moved away to allow her to speak.

"I am human!"(Joy)

He scoffed.

"No. Not very likely."(Deadman)

The man slammed his boot on the Joy's head and pinned her against the floor.

"No bullshit, Zombi. The only reason you're still alive is because of a small interest I have in you. Once that interest is gone or this inquisition is decided to be unbeneficial, I'll kill you."(Deadman)

He sliced the sword a few millimeters into her neck and held it there.

"Now! All the Zombis I've seen always got that same look in their eyes. The eyes that say they've murdered someone, ate another human being. The way they talk always has a bit of crazy in them. But you… you don't have that at all. If I didn't see you fight that other Zombi earlier, I might have thought you were just some ordinary girl."(Deadman)

He increased the pressure on his foot.

"So! What I'm wondering is, how did you get to be like that? Do you just feel no guilt or acknowledgment over eating a human being?"(Deadman)

There was only silence after the question. Hearing no answer, the man cut his sword deeper into her neck.

"Gahhh! I don't know what you're talking about!" Joy shouted. "I don't… I never wanted to be a Zombi. To be like this!"

That sentence hurt her more than she thought it would. That was because she had never audibly acknowledged that she was a Zombi. Tears flowed down her face and mixed with her pool of blood.

"You're crying, huh? I've seen Zombis cry before, but they're always screaming hysterically 'It's not my fault', 'I didn't mean to', 'I can't help it', blah blah blah while they had the blood of the people they were eating all over their mouths. Like anyone would buy that."(Deadman)

Joy said nothing and continued to despair. The man tilted his head and continued observing her.

"Innocence. That's the look. That's what it is. The difference between you and them. So answer me, and make sure you do or else I'm just killing you here and now. Why do you look so innocent? Are you just new at this? Maybe you ate some criminals or bad guys, and felt it was justified that way?"(Deadman)

"I haven't eaten anyone!" she replied.

"I can't believe that. Then how are you still alive? Forget this, I'll just kill you now."(Deadman)

Joy could feel the blade moving.

"I'm telling the truth! I haven't eaten anyone. I only became a Zombi a month ago!"(Joy)

The blade stopped.

"You only turned recently?"(Deadman)

"Yes."(Joy)

"So you haven't eaten anyone yet?"(Deadman)

"No!"(Joy)

"… Well that is something. I've never met a Zombi that's never eaten anyone before. That explains your actions back there and protecting that girl."(Deadman)

Joy was silent, while the man pondered his thoughts.

"Maybe she can be useful…" he muttered to himself. "All right. I've got a proposition for you."

*Ahem* he cleared his throat as if making a business proposal.

"I'll find you some people to eat. In return, you'll have to work for me."(Deadman)

The proposition sounded completely absurd. Joy wasn't even sure she heard him correctly. She was only sure of one thing at that moment. The man was probably the worst kind of person on the face of the earth. The worst kind of person to get involved with.

"And if I refuse?" (Joy)

"You're still a Zombi. I'll kill you the moment you say no. In fact, I'm still on the fence about keeping you alive. If you don't accept the offer soon, I might just decide to withdraw it."(Deadman)

_You... What kind of ultimatum is this? (Joy)_

Joy looked up into Deadman's face and saw his indifferent stare. Like a fisherman that had a catch he didn't know whether to keep or throw in the garbage. This was the devil she would have to bind herself to for the rest of her life.

Tears poured again from her eyes. A pitiful voice could barely be heard.

"Fine…"(Joy)

After a pause, the man released his foot and sword. Joy slowly got up and looked at him. He extended his hand as if he just finalized some sort of corporate deal.

"Well then. My name is Deadman. Welcome to…(next chapter name)"


	4. Slayers

**Chapter 4: Slayers**

Slayers, a mercenary organization that hunted down Zombis. Originally, it was a group of bounty hunters that captured or eliminated people for money. After the emergence of Zombis, they found a new niche. Plus, it wasn't illegal to kill Zombis, so they no longer had to worry about government interference. It was that kind of twisted group that viewed human lives as game to be hunted.

Deadman had been working with the organization before their transition into Zombi killing. He had what could be considered a natural talent for hunting animals with sentient thought. Cruel and willing to exploit people's deepest fears and weaknesses with zero remorse, he was perfect at his profession.

After explaining the situation to Joy, Deadman began teaching her the basics of fighting. Tactics, knowledge of weaponry, psychological warfare, it was a high intensity crash course in How To Be A Mercenary 101. All done to make her a perfect hunter's hound.

She no longer slept fully and received verbal abuse around the clock. He would say that Joy no longer needed sleep because she was a Zombi. In addition to the mistreatment, Deadman constantly threatened her with ending her life if Joy took too long to learn something. It was no vague threat, for he established early on what would happen if he decided she was no longer worth the trouble. She was forced to quit her job and although he treated her like dirt, Deadman was oddly fair about monetary compensation. Joy actually received a wage that was higher than her previous coding job.

While learning under Deadman's tutelage, Joy had to keep up appearances with her friends and family. She quickly made up the excuse that she was recruited for a job in coding for government security, and was not allowed to talk about it. It was a reasonable excuse and managed to silence any doubts her friends and coworkers had. Guilt racked her heart as she lied to her loved ones. Explaining her situation where she had to work with a sadistic lunatic was completely out of the question.

One day during training, Joy was practicing putting a gun together. She sat at a shabby dining table in a musty apartment that looked as if it would fall apart at any moment. Deadman came in and laid a jet black sword on the table. He winced as he set it down.

"Got a weapon made for you. Pick it up and give it a whirl," he commanded.

Joy picked up the sword and held it in one hand. She drew it out of its sheathe and moved it around.

"It's a bit heavy." (Joy)

"Can you swing it?"(Deadman)

Joy had been practicing with all kinds of melee weapons since her training began and started slashing with basic motions. It was a bit difficult for her, but doable. With some practice, she would get used to it. She looked at Deadman, who was staring at her with slight surprise.

"Man, you really are a bonafide monster." (Deadman)

Joy's grip tightened. She hated being called that, and Deadman never missed an opportunity to throw her nonhumanness in her face.

"When you use a sword, I think you're more of a monster than I am," she retaliated.

"Hahaha, no, no, you don't quite get it. Drop the sword on the ground now."(Deadman)

After spending the last few weeks with him, Joy had already been cruelly conditioned to follow all of Deadman's commands quickly and unhesitatingly.

She dropped the sword to the ground and it immediately sank into the floor, crushing the wooden floorboards beneath. Joy looked down with complete shock.

_It can't possibly be heavy enough to break the floor! Wait… If I thought it was heavy, and I have enhanced strength…_

"Looks like you figured it out."(Deadman)

Deadman bent down and seemed to struggle with pulling the sword from the floor.

"Forged with as little impurities and slags as possible. Dense steel, made out of the most durable materials. Doesn't look any different from a normal sword, but its appearance hides its true weight. No _human_ could ever wield something like this. Should be perfect for a Zombi like you."(Deadman)

Joy's anger surged again, but she couldn't muster a reply.

"One more little present."(Deadman)

Deadman began wheeling a long wooden crate into the apartment. Inside was a large gatling gun you'd normally see mounted on helicopters or tanks.

"You don't expect me to use that monstrosity too?!" Joy exclaimed.

"Oi oi, coming from you, that's like the pot calling the kettle black. Any who, I also have these heavy ass shoes for you too. The recoil shouldn't be a problem with your monstrous upper body strength, but you need static friction to hold you to the ground. Isn't your employer thoughtful?"(Deadman)

Joy gritted her teeth hard enough to feel like they would crack. After all the training and cruel treatment she was put through, she was approaching her nerve's end. She was ready to outright attack Deadman, even if it meant forfeiting her life. The hunger was getting worse too. Joy was coming up on her two month mark and felt like she was about to die of starvation. She had even stopped producing saliva, which constantly made it feel like she was walking through a bone dry desert.

_Maybe I should just try to eat this bastard._

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Deadman began talking again.

"And more good news! I found someone for you to eat!"


	5. The First Person She Ate

**Chapter 5: The First Person She Ate**

Deadman brought Joy to a private hospital. The medical complex was very much out of the city and was surrounded by forest. After looking around a bit, it seemed like the hospital was specifically catered to certain rich individuals.

Joy still did not know how she felt about eating someone. Part of her firmly decided that she didn't want to. Despite that, her legs planted one foot after the other, and followed Deadman out of the car. It was as if her body moved by itself regardless of what her mind wanted. While Joy had her internal war, Deadman spoke to her.

"Wait here," he said shortly and pointed to a bench.

She sat in the parking lot, while Deadman made his way into the building.

_Is he planning on making me eat a sick person? Maybe a coma patient, or someone brain dead. Would that make it okay?_

…

_What the hell are you thinking? Of course not! I won't eat someone… _

_I can't…_

But her stomach growled loudly. How long had it been since she experienced any kind of taste on her lips. Taste. One of the five senses that humans took for granted. She felt sick to her core. Mentally and physically exhausted, Joy just wanted her suffering to end.

And then Deadman came back. He was pushing an elderly man in a wheel chair.

Joy's insides froze as she watched the pair approach.

_No way._

The old man looked straight at her without any sort of emotion. He was completely conscious and seemed to allow Deadman to push him out here with no resistance whatsoever.

_Did he trick him? He looks like a son picking up his elderly father. Psychiatric patient? There's no way I'm eating him!_

"This is the guy you will be eating," Deadman said as he stopped in front of her. "Old guy, this is the girl that will be eating you."

He looked down at the man in the wheel chair and the man nodded back in confirmation. As if he was just told a simple bit of trivia or making a simple introduction. Joy could only look in complete shock. Her expression slowly turned into one of burning rage as she jumped up from the bench.

"THIS IS FUCKED UP, EVEN FOR YOU!" she yelled louder than she ever had before. "I get it! You're a fucking sociopath that doesn't give a damn about people, but tricking someone into being eaten? I'll kill you right now!"

Deadman only waved his hand as if brushing off a misunderstanding.

"I won't deny that I'm a sociopath, or a psychopath, or whatever crazy path I walk, and honestly…" he chuckled. "… it would be a bit entertaining to see you try to kill me. What with your moral high standards combined with your crappy fighting skills. But I'll tell you now, I didn't trick this guy. I didn't take any kind of persuasive measures whatsoever."

Joy only looked on in confusion.

"I know right? No negotiations. Look, I'll show you. Old man," Deadman spoke to the man in the wheel chair. "This girl is a Zombi. She's going to help me kill other Zombis, but of course she needs to eat someone to live. That person is you. See! Look at how not surprised he is!"

The elderly man only nodded and then looked at Joy.

"I understand the situation young lady," he said in a raspy voice. "I am here of my own will."

Joy could no longer process what was going on.

"Are you mental or something?"(Joy)

She could not help but blurt that out.

"No. I assure you my mental faculties are working just fine. For now at least."(Old Man)

She only looked on in disbelief and turned to Deadman for an explanation. Taking the signal, he shrugged and made a gesture as if having to explain something mundane.

"He's terminal. Medical report says he's only going to live for another week. No friends, no family. They've all either died of old age or completely unreachable. He's liquidated all his assets and donated them. No one's visited him and I doubt anyone would attend his funeral. The doctors and nurses probably don't even care that he's missing from his bed."(Deadman)

"And just cause no one would notice he's gone, makes it okay?!"(Joy)

*Ahem*

As if to interrupt their argument, the old man cleared his throat.

"There's not much left to my life. I've done many things I'm not proud of, but I selfishly want to believe my life had meaning, even if it's in the end. This young man told me that using my worthless body, you could save countless lives. If that's the case, I do not mind," he explained patiently.

Joy only shook her head as tears rolled down her face. She had never heard something so sad in her life. And the gentle tone the old man took, only stabbed the wretchedness of the situation deeper into her heart.

"Joy….Regardless of whether you decide to eat him or not, this is probably the last bit of real human contact he's going to get. Give him a good last memory, would you?"(Deadman)

The words were kind and consoling, but Joy knew the underlying intent. This man had no such kindness. The words were meant to guilt trip her and egg on the old man. She glared at Deadman with pure hatred.

_You manipulative bastard! I'll never forgive you!_

"Please," the old man pleaded softly.

His fragile hands reached out to hold Joy's. They had no strength at all. The frailty of it broke her heart.

_God damn it…_

_God damn it…._

_GOD DAMN IT!_

…

"Can we take him back to the apartment?" Joy asked quietly.

Deadman tilted his head in inquiry, but assuming that the question meant she was going to go through with it, he decided to allow it.

The two went back to their, on the verge of collapsing building, and brought the old man with them. They went down into the sound proof basement and all night, Joy talked to the elderly man. Everything about his life, his goals, his regrets. They talked for hours well into the night.

Deadman even poured a few drinks for them and left.

The next morning, Deadman came down to the basement and opened the door.

Only Joy was there. An empty wheel chair beside her. She was crying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Deadman looked at the scene with indifference and began to move away, when Joy called out to him.

"What am I supposed to do…"(Joy)

"…"(Deadman)

"What the hell do you want from me? Pushing me to do this kind of shit?! Are you trying to turn me into a monster?! Do you want me to become some soulless fucker like you?! TO NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES?!" she screamed hysterically.

There was a long silence before Deadman walked to her and began to speak.

"Of course not," he said emotionlessly. "As soon as you turn into a heartless monster, I'll kill you. The day you don't care or stop letting guilt control your actions, is the day you really become a Zombi. Suffer, feel pain and regret. Cling on to your humanity. It's the only thing that's keeping you alive."

"YOU FUCKER!" the voice echoed off the walls. "You fucker…."

Joy curled up into a ball and continued to weep.

Deadman stood up, walked to the doorway, and stopped.

"How ironic," he muttered in an ice cold voice. "The humane monster is partnered up with a monster in human skin. What kind of terrible story premise is that?"

And then he left.


	6. Killer Of Her Own Kind

**Chapter 6: Killer Of Her Own Kind**

The same day Joy ate the old man, Deadman forced her back into training. Not even an hour to grieve or stabilize her thoughts. She was going to hunt for the first time that night. Maybe he thought it would take her mind off things. More likely, he wanted to further condition her to kill Zombis no matter how chaotic her mind was. Boxing trainers often did the same thing. They exhausted and broke down their fighters physically and mentally. All so that they could build them from the ground up in the image they saw fit.

Deadman took that methodology to its most extreme.

Joy emotionlessly made preparations she had practiced a thousand times over. She followed all his instructions and commands flawlessly like she was on autopilot. That probably wasn't very far from the truth.

Because Joy was a Zombi, she had the natural ability to pick out people who would most likely be targeted. The prey usually possessed healthy physique, ages ranged from mid-teens to mid-twenties. Not surprising since that would be the peak range of the human body's condition and growth period. Since they knew who would be targeted, Joy and Deadman could easily set up ambushes.

All went according to plan. They lured Zombis, trapped them, surrounded them, and took them out. With Joy's training and inhumanly powerful weapons, their prey never stood a chance. However, she completely refrained from finishing them off. Only choosing to incapacitate them by cutting off their limbs with her heavy sword, or shooting them off with her gatling gun.

The first time they caught a Zombi, Deadman motioned her to kill him. At that point, Joy had obeyed his every command instantly, but not that time. Surprisingly, Deadman didn't push the subject. Only shrugging as if to say "I guess it can't be helped" and then stabbing his sword into the Zombi's brain. Many of these monsters fell that night. Even more would be hunted in the next few days, weeks, months, years…

The Zombi race had a boogieman.

**Killer Of Her Own Kind**.

A disgusting title she had been given by the Slayers Organization. A name her fellow Zombis grew to fear and hate. All that resentment, and she had never actually killed a Zombi. But Joy didn't care. Their resentment and ridicule was nothing compared to what she received from Deadman on a daily basis. And his cruelty was nowhere near as damaging as the guilt and pain she aimed at herself.

Her heart crowded around the memory of the old man. It was the only thing that felt real to her. The only thing that caused her real pain anymore. Pain is the greatest indicator of life. Guilt is the evidence of humanity and the presence of a conscience. It meant she still had a heart. Damaged, and broken, and abused, and fragile, it still existed.

Deadman and Joy entered the HQ for Slayers. It was located in a tall business tower in downtown. The organization owned floors 35-50. The other floors belonged to more legitimate companies.

It was time for a biweekly report, and the pair strode lazily before the doors of the conference room.

*Sigh* "What a fucking pain…" Deadman scratched his head as he said that. "You know the drill. Wait out here while I listen to the upper echelon whine and bitch about how fat and lazy their asses are."

Joy nodded emotionlessly and sat in the lobby, while Deadman entered the room. She took out a small book on military tactics and began to read.

"Well, if it isn't the Killer of Her Own Kind." (?)

The voice came from her side. Sitting there and putting an arm around her was another Slayer. He was muscular and had a height of 6'6". Compared to Joy, who was about 5'7", the man was practically a giant.

"Hard to believe you're a Zombi. Sitting so calmly while surrounded by so many Slayers. You're probably actually scared shitless inside."(Big Slayer)

A wide grin cut across his large face. Joy only ignored him and turned a page of her book. Seeing he was having no effect, he decided to try another approach.

"You're some cold bitch. But I guess you have to be if you slaughter so much of your own kind. How does it feel to wipe out so many of your own species? Maybe you actually like killing your own parents and siblings? All on the orders of that pussy, Deadman? What a good little puppy you are. I wouldn't mind a mindless dog like you. What about partnering with me instead?"(Big Slayer)

Joy closed her book.

"Ahaha~" she laughed in a young lady like way. "That's pretty rich coming from someone like you. Killer of my own kind? You guys were killing normal people before the Zombis arrived. But thanks for the offer. If Deadman ever dies, I'll give you a call."

She giggled again.

An out of place chuckle that actually fit an average woman her age, despite the tense situation. Joy could not help but laugh at the Slayer's disposition. Compared to the annoying insults Deadman threw her way, the giant was like an illiterate monkey. After all the things she had been through, for better or for worse, her skin had become incredibly thick.

A vein appeared on the giant Slayer's temple.

"Arrogant bitch for someone that's nothing but a slave. I could kill you right now and no one would care. People would even cheer!" he spat.

The provocation had no effect whatsoever. Joy only smiled brightly and turned back to her book.

_Ah… If I can act like that, Deadman's personality must be rubbing off on me. How gross…_

Her phone began to ring. She checked and saw that it was her best friend. Joy opened her flip phone to answer.

"Hey Sarah, what's up?" she said cheerfully.

_Wow… even I'm a little amazed at how far my acting's gotten. I used to struggle with putting up a front, but now, switching between characters is incredibly easy._

"Me and some of the girls are heading out for some drinks. We wanted to know if you could come."(Sarah)

"Sorry, I can't. I've got some work tonight."(Joy)

"Whaaaaat~?"(Sarah)

"Sorry~ You'll just have to have fun without me."(Joy)

"Do your friends not know you're a Zombi?" (Big Slayer)

Joy turned and gave him a cold look. A sinister grin came over his face.

"HEY! DO YOU KNOW YOUR FRIEND'S A ZO—"(Big Slayer)

He never finished that sentence. Joy had grabbed his large head and slammed it hard through part of the wall. The scene looked very surreal. A vastly smaller woman had single handedly taken down a trained mercenary that was significantly larger, with her deceptive strength. Blood trickled down the head that the tiny woman held.

Joy emotionlessly closed her phone and looked down at the giant slayer.

"Hey fucker~. Don't you know it's rude to do something like that? Huh?"(Joy)

She moved his head away and slammed it towards the wall again.

"Huh?"(Joy)

*Slam*

"Huh?!"

*Slam*

"HUH?!"

*Slam*

"Ah… He's passed out so he can't hear me. Well, I guess I'll leave it at that."

She turned around and saw other Slayers surrounding her in a semi-circle. Some pointed their various weapons at her. Others looked on in complete shock.

Joy didn't have her weapons with her. They checked them at the entrance just in case she decided to rebel. Even though she was unarmed, her confidence remained completely unfazed.

"If any one of you fuckers interrupts my phone call, I'll beat the shit out of you!" she snapped.

The Slayers flinched back on reflex.

Joy let the giant mercenary's head slide down the wall and opened her phone to call Sarah back. She immediately picked up.

"Joy? What happened?"(Sarah)

"Sorry. There was this perverted asshole buzzing around me. I got rid of him though," she said cheerfully.

"Really? You're okay?"(Sarah)

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."(Joy)

"Wow. You're really strong. I can't deal with perverts at all."(Sarah)

"Yeah, well, I used to be like that too. Then I took some self-defense classes, and now I can kick their asses around like a toy ball! Ahahaha~"(Joy)

"Girl! Give me some lessons the next time we hang out!"(Sarah)

"Will do! Will do!"(Joy)

Joy cheerfully hung up, and then turned to the Slayer audience with an ice cold look. It was an expression change that occurred instantly. Like having a temperature go from pleasant heat to absolute zero degrees within a nanosecond.

There was an awkward pause before she turned and spit on the unconscious giant on the floor. Joy went to her chair, sat back down, and opened her book again, giving no fuck whatsoever.

The door to the conference room opened violently and Deadman walked out.

"Well! That was a complete waste of time!" he yelled loud enough for the superiors in the conference room to still hear.

He then looked around at the scenery before him. Joy was reading casually in her seat, a giant man was bleeding unconscious on the floor, a number of Slayers were standing around and pointing their weapons. Deadman furrowed his eyebrows as if to inquire what was going on but gave up on that thought process instantly. He concluded it probably wasn't anything important.

"Let's go," (Deadman)

Joy stood up wordlessly and followed Deadman out.

On the drive home, Joy spoke up.

"So what was the discussion about?"(Joy)

"Same thing as usual. They're telling me to hand you over. Probably want to send you to a research lab rather than kill you. Then I told them how many Zombis we'd killed due to your efforts. Still didn't satisfy those pricks. THEN I told them we could possibly capture some Zombis and send them to the research facilities in your place."(Deadman)

Joy raised an eyebrow.

"And they believed you?"(Joy)

Joy had known the man called Deadman intimately enough to know he was only interested in one thing when it concerned Zombis. Kill as many of them as possible without pause and make a bloody spectacle out of it if there was time to spare. It was part of some vague code he held himself to. No mercy, no quarter given, only an end to their miserable existences.

Deadman chuckled.

"Right? Those idiots should know me better by now. You've only known me for a few months, and already have a better understanding of how my brain works."(Deadman)

"That's not much of a compliment. I practically live with you, so I just know these things."(Joy)

"Of course it wasn't a compliment. I'm marveling at how shitty their brains are. If your brain is at the level of a mongrel, what does that say about them? Working under such incompetent superiors really upsets my insides like the cheapest shit vodka. Ah~ How great it is for you to have such a skillful master and boss."(Deadman)

Joy was used to ignoring his barbs by now.

"Your colleagues aren't any better," she added.

"Yeah... They were already a slow bunch, but at least they used to use their brains more when they hunted humans. Hunting easy kill Zombis has dulled their senses."(Deadman)

"Is that why we go after the most dangerous and tricky ones?"(Joy)

"Of course! Leave the nameless background character Villager A types to kill the low level Slime A monsters. Hunters need equally challenging game to hone their skills. If you eat only crap, you'll be crap."(Deadman)

A long silence passed.

"Have you… found someone?" Joy asked hesitatingly.

"Ah. Someone for you to eat? Getting hungry?"(Deadman)

"… Yeah."(Joy)

"Hi Hungry, I'm dad."(Deadman)

"That joke doesn't work that way."(Joy)

*Sigh* "Truth is, I'm having trouble finding someone. That old man was an exception within an exception within an exception."(Deadman)

A spike of worry entered Joy.

"Well! There is a last resort I've been keeping. If we can't find a suitable meal in time, we'll just have to resort to 'that'."(Deadman)


	7. Evil Eater

**Chapter 7: Evil Eater**

The pair's deepest concerns finally came to fruition as they couldn't find any possible meal candidates. Deadman had even searched hospitals in other countries, but had no luck. Meanwhile, Joy's hunger grew with each passing day. She never showed it on her face, but her stomach began to growl loudly and uncontrollably.

"I swear, if I hear that stomach growl one more time, I'll just go ahead and put a knife through your forehead and be done with it." (Deadman)

"It's not like I can help it. _You're_ the one that can't find somebody."(Joy)

"Talking back to your employer like that. Looks like you've gained some balls doing this work. That or the hunger is just making you that grumpy. Either way, it's very unattractive for a young lady." (Deadman)

"Like I give a fuck about that at this point." (Joy)

*Sigh* "And such vulgar vocabulary. Where did that sweet little innocent Zombi go? I remember the good old days when you were scared shitless about me killing you at any moment. I miss that…"(Deadman)

Deadman chuckled as he put out a cigarette he was smoking, and rested his hands on his chin in deep thought.

"I guess we'll just have to resort to 'that'. It's not ideal, but there's no other options at this point." (Deadman)

Deadman picked up his phone and began to talk to his contact. After some negotiating, he hung up and the two set off. Joy wordlessly followed, but thought nervously about having to eat another person.

_I wonder if I'll ever get used to it…_

_If I do, Deadman would probably kill me though._

They sped down a long highway and arrived at a maximum security prison. In the building, housed many of the worst criminals ever caught. The giant concrete structures gave off an unnerving atmosphere of intimidation. Joy's stomach twisted in a way that had nothing to do with her hunger.

Deadman met a guard at the entrance, who let them in. Part way through, they met someone who seemed to be the designated doctor of the prison. The doctor led them to an isolated medical room that was sealed with a reinforced steel door. Not so surprising considering they were in a heavily fortified prison. The doctor left the room, leaving Deadman and Joy to wait in silence.

_I have a really bad feeling about this…_

As if on cue, the door burst open and an unconscious prisoner strapped to a bed was brought in. He was bleeding a bit from his ribs and the smell of blood wafted to Joy's nose enticingly. The workers who brought him in left, leaving only the doctor, Deadman, Joy, and the prisoner in the room.

Deadman took out a manila folder that obviously held a large stack of cash inside. He handed it to the doctor, who promptly accepted and left. As soon as the door closed, Joy spoke up.

"You're really going to make me eat this guy? He's unconscious." (Joy)

It wasn't too long ago that she would have yelled that after losing her temper, but now she spoke with a calm cold control.

"Told you. We're out of options. Can't go the ideal route." (Deadman)

"But I thought we agreed that I couldn't eat someone without their consent. A very god damn apparent line that I was never supposed to cross." (Joy)

"Well, we're crossing it. Tough shit." (Deadman)

"I'm NOT going to eat someone without their consent. You know that. I'd rather die than do that." (Joy)

Deadman sighed tiredly and picked up the file next to the prisoner's bed. He began reading it aloud.

"Boris Kry-kur-something up and off. He was convicted for the death of 10 people _that they know of_. 13 counts of _confirmed_ rape. Human trafficking, theft, member of an organized crime syndicate etc. etc. Basically he's a sick motherfucking prick. Boris here is a human trafficker, and I'm pretty sure we both know that 10 dead bodies and 13 raped women is a gross understatement of the actual number." (Deadman)

Joy swallowed dryly.

She thought back to one of the cases they had been working on where Zombis were trafficking people to eat. She saw firsthand how human trafficking worked. Some of them had raped the women before eating them. The "merchandise" was abused and gotten rid of constantly. The numbers 10 and 13 were most likely a huge downplay of the man's real amount. There were, for sure, countless more victims than on record.

Deadman continued reading.

"Let's see, he's on death row. Funny how that's supposed to be illegal now, but it's not like people really care if they do it in the shadows. Dated for execution in 2 weeks. And he just got shanked in the courtyard! The world's just begging for this guy to die." (Deadman)

Joy looked down at the heavily tattooed man in an orange jumpsuit. She thought about it carefully. Unlike the incident with the old man, she tried not to lose herself to her emotions. It was a sad testament to how much she had changed. Her blood ran a lot cooler now. She was less caring, less sentimental, and more pragmatic.

After some quiet thoughts, she spoke up.

"I'm not doing it." (Joy)

*Sigh* "I thought you'd say that." (Deadman)

"I can't do it without consent. Even if this bastard deserves a death as bad as being eaten, I won't do it, Deadman." (Joy)

"That's just fine." (Deadman)

As he finished that sentence, he began digging around in one of the medical drawers. After a bit of shuffling, he found the syringe he was looking for and injected it into the prisoner's arm.

"What was that?" Joy asked.

"Stimulant," he answered shortly. "A lot I might add. Gonna wake him up and get his consent."

"There's no way that's going to work no matter how manipulative you are." (Joy)

"Trust me," he said with a conniving smile.

_Trust you…?_

The prisoner began to stir. To assist with his awakening, Deadman promptly slapped his face. The prisoner woke up with a jolt and immediately began cursing, while trying to remove his bonds. The bed rattled loudly as Boris began yelling like a wild animal.

"Truly an example of human grace and majesticness," Deadman said sarcastically.

He placed his hand gently on the prisoner's chest and pushed him to sit back. Although Deadman didn't have the figure of a muscle builder, his body was deceptively well trained. He had strength that wasn't clear to the naked eye, and was able to suppress the wildly flailing man, instantly.

"Relax. I'm here on behalf of the organization. Do you understand?" (Deadman)

The prisoner stopped struggling, but still had a worried look directed at Deadman.

"Are you here to kill me?" (Boris)

"No, no, no. It's actually the opposite. The organization has decided to reward your efforts for not giving anyone else up during interrogation. This girl here?" He nodded towards Joy. "She's your reward. Something like a last meal. So, go ahead and rape her." (Deadman)

Deadman began removing the prisoner's restraint.

"YOU!" Joy yelled incredulously.

But she was too late in reacting. Deadman had unlocked a strap tying the prisoner's right hand down and ran towards the door. Joy tried to follow, but the door closed with a deafening shut. It was reinforced steel. Even with her monstrous strength, she wouldn't be able to open it forcefully.

She screamed at Deadman who she was sure was leaning his back against the door casually.

"LET ME OUT, DEADMAN! LET ME OUT!" (Joy)

Her screams were interrupted by a man's disgusting laugh. She turned around to see the prisoner had undone the last of his restraints and was smiling at her perversely.

"You don't understand…Don't come near me…"(Joy)

But the prisoner didn't listen. The sickening atmosphere from him grew as he walked over to her. Hyped up on the stimulant, the man looked insane.

Deadman leaned on the door while taking a cigarette out to smoke. He heard Joy's muffled screams, some bodies banging.

Time passed and he finished smoking through the pack. He listened for sounds again. There was no longer any noise. Met with silence he opened the door and saw a scene that was all too familiar.

Some tables and chairs were overturned, a few medical instruments were scattered on the floor.

And there she was.

Joy sitting in a pool of blood like a lost child. Tears slowly streaming down her face as she looked blankly at nothing.

"Well, that solves that," Deadman muttered coldly.

"I FUCKING HATE YOU!" (Joy)

Joy dashed at Deadman, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and pinned him to the wall. Her face was close to his, staring directly into his eyes with burning fury. Even with the excessive amount of force confronting him, Deadman only gazed coldly at her.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO FUCK WITH ME UNTIL YOU'RE SATISFIED?!" (Joy)

"…"(Deadman)

"WELL?! ANSWER ME!" (Joy)

"…"(Deadman)

"FUCKING!... SAY SOMETHING! SAY SOMETHING, DEADMAN!" (Joy)

"…"(Deadman)

"…"(Joy)

"… Just blame me for it." (Deadman)

"What?" (Joy)

Joy's expression turned into confusion, but her grip did not loosen.

"Just blame me for it. You even said yourself that you didn't want to eat him. I forced you to do it. If you didn't eat him, or fight him off, he would have raped and killed you. I created that situation, didn't I?" (Deadman)

"THAT. DOESN"T. HELP. ME!" (Joy)

"It's like hunting Zombis. You never finish them off, right? You never killed any of them. I did. You did nothing wrong." (Deadman)

"And I'm supposed to be completely free of guilt because of that?!" (Joy)

"Of course not. It's hypocrisy at its finest. You did absolutely nothing wrong, but you're racked with overwhelming guilt." (Deadman)

Joy could only shake her head. It was like a little girl being unable to understand a difficult concept a parent was explaining to her.

"I'm actually kind of envious that you can be so hypocritical," he said lightheartedly. "It's another proof that you're still human. You can do anything as long as I take responsibility and force you into it."

Joy let go of him and collapsed on the floor.

"I wonder if a day will come when I open that door and you won't be screaming at me. I hope that day never comes. *Sigh*. Let's go. Get cleaned up, I've brought some extra clothes." (Deadman)

He pointed to a bag they had brought with them, and closed the room behind him.

The drive back was heavy with tension. As per the difficult routine, it was Joy who first spoke up.

"What was that… about that hypocrisy and envy stuff?"(Joy)

She didn't forgive him. She never would. But after exhausting all of her emotions, simple curiosity remained. Joy quite frankly didn't even care about a sincere answer, but asked the question anyway.

Deadman scoffed. He was planning to ignore her but after some thought, decided to answer.

"People view hypocrisy as something awful. Gives the impression that people change their minds too easily. But changing your mind, your views, even your morals, is a part of human evolution. You live, you adapt, you manipulate your principles to respond to ever changing variables. It's an ability of a real person." (Deadman)

Joy made no response, but Deadman could tell she was still listening.

"You, Joy, will change the way you view the world. Unlike me, your principles will keep changing. If it means letting you include criminals into your diet, then so be it. But you still have a soul that feels guilt and regret. *Sigh* Such a pain in the ass philosophy discussion." (Deadman)

He looked at her as if asking if he really had to continue. Still silent and looking forward, Deadman felt like he received a nonverbal signal to continue.

"Just know, that I cannot change like you do. I've held myself down by firm rules that I pretty much created for myself to perform inhumane actions. I can no longer change. As I watch you get torn apart, bandaged up, and then torn apart again; create rules and principles to stand on, just to have them destroyed and broken, it's something I'm envious of. You're a human amongst humans, Joy. That includes the pathetic people who are not Zombis. I'm nothing like that. Even considering those trash, I am even lower than that. I'm just a dead man, hahaha! Hypocrisy is to be human." (Deadman)

He took another glance at her. After staring blankly ahead for a while, Joy shut her eyes. A response as if to say that what he said was enough. A message only apparent between two people who knew each other at a highly intimate level, despite being opposing personalities.

_Continue to be hurt, Joy. Lick your wounds, get up, and walk with trembling legs. Then be hurt again. You are human…(Deadman)_

Deadman chuckled at the thought.

"A monster that is more humane than normal humans. What a terrible joke…" he said with a bitter sadistic smile.


	8. You Are What You Eat

**Chapter 8: You Are What You Eat**

The pair went back to their regular hunting routine. Everything seemed to be going well on the surface, and the results they achieved were astonishing. The pair of Slayers hunted the Zombis relentlessly. Even the most powerful and most vigilant could not escape the grim reapers that were Deadman and Joy.

But of course, like many things in life, nothing is ever truly perfect.

Deadman had been taking particular care in observing Joy's mannerisms in the last few weeks. Her actions were completely different from before. Unlike the cold cruelty she had often displayed and developed following the eating of the old man, the violence now was of a different category. There was the incident with the giant Slayer before, but no raw emotion had been invested in that conflict. That was calculated military intimidation. A cold rational tactic. The same description could be said for earlier hunts. Deadman thought his personality was rubbing off on her, but now it was different. In place of cold and detached action, there was a sense of enjoyment in causing pain.

Ever since Joy had eaten the prisoner, Deadman saw glimpses of delight from her during the hunts. Like an adrenaline junkie that was getting off on thrills, very little guilt or none at all was shown when she incapacitated her prey. There were several times when Deadman thought about killing her.

For tonight's hunt, they had tracked a target to the city docks. She stood before a mangled body that was only alive because of the person's Zombi abilities. A faint smile swept across her lips while covered in the prey's blood. Deadman walked forward and stabbed the sword into the target's head like squashing a simple bug underfoot. He subtly looked over his shoulder, and thought about sending the sword Joy's way.

But every single time, the smile would disappear. An emotionless lonesome look would take its place instead.

_So she doesn't like the killing part? I guess that means she's not really enjoying it. Am I getting it wrong?_

_Maybe she's changing her expression to hide her joy on purpose? She knows if I find out she no longer feels remorse, I'll kill her…_

_No, I doubt it. If Joy really did turn into a cold blooded monster, there'd be a mountain of evidence. She would hunt and kill Zombis on her own. She'd definitely kill me already. God knows how long she's wanted to do that._

_No. _

_The humanity's still there. I knew the meal with the prisoner was an extreme mental strain on her. Bad enough for her personality to temporarily take a bad turn, but it's been weeks and she's still acting like this._

_If it doesn't dull her skills, I don't particularly mind. As long as she doesn't turn into a complete monster. But what's this sense of foreboding?_

"Are we done here?" Joy asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Deadman sighed at how messy things were getting.

_I should just kill her right now. Save on future trouble._

"Yeah, we're done. Got somewhere to be?"(Deadman)

"Yeah. Me and the girls are going to hang out a bit. It's a rare night off, after all."(Joy)

It was a bit disturbing how she spoke so casually with blood on her face.

"Right. Have fun."(Deadman)

As soon as Deadman dismissed her, Joy made her way out of the docks.

Even if he wanted to hunt Zombis 24/7, there were limits to mental stamina and concentration. Without some periods of reprieve, the brain would become overburdened. When that happens, stupid mistakes are made. So once in a while, Deadman decided they would have some days off.

_But I wonder if that's such a good idea with her condition as it is._

Deadman decided to visit an acquaintance at a Zombi research facility. The lab room was annoyingly white colored. All the furniture was white, the doors were white, the people were dressed in white, the light made all the white even brighter. Lots and lots of white basically.

Deadman couldn't help but squint his eyes in irritation. He was speaking to one of the head researchers of the facility. He had short messy brown hair with strands of gray, a lab coat, thick black glasses, and smelled of stale cigarettes and coffee. Apparently, he was something of an expert on Zombis. Deadman simply referred to him as Al.

"Zombi behaviors?" (Al)

"Yeah. Is there some sort of research on their psychological behaviors?" (Deadman)

"You mean besides the obvious fact that they're usually coo coo for coco puffs, yeah, there's loads. None of it's published though. Not enough evidence and doesn't get enough funding. Government mostly just wants to find the best way to kill them. Actually, I thought you were more for that line of thinking. The whole, 'understanding something enough to kill it and nothing more'. So, what's all this about?" (Al)

*Sigh*"I don't know if you've heard, but I've got a Zombi assisting me with hunting." (Deadman)

"What?! I mean… I heard a small rumor about a Slayer using one, but I didn't know it was you. I'd never think it was you. Especially after—"(Al)

"I have my reasons. She's useful and easily manipulated. No real lives were sacrificed for her food. No one anyone will miss anyway. None of them innocent." (Deadman)

Al looked a bit worried, but then sighed.

"Fine, I won't ask any more about your motives. What kind of people has she eaten?" (Al)

"A man dying of old age, terminally ill, and some human trafficker that was on death row." (Deadman)

"That's some varied diet there." (Al)

"You're not going to tell me something like inconsistent food is giving her indigestion, are you?" (Deadman)

"No, but you should take real care of who she eats. There's not much evidence, because the government cut the funding, but there was a project based on just that."

"… Research on the effects of different people as food for Zombis?" (Deadman)

"Yup!" (Al)

"…. *Sigh* That can't be good. Alright, I'll bite. How in the world could they test something like that?" (Deadman)

"They brought a bunch of prisoners and fed them to Zombis. Of course it worked as a benefit in a lot of ways. Got rid of prisoners, kept Zombis alive for more research, and they were able to study their behavior. Super cost effective!" (Al)

"Humanity never ceases to amaze me. Well? How did that go? Did it yield any good result?" (Deadman)

"Not really. It was terribly put together to begin with. You can imagine what that was like. The Zombis were already unstable. Then they were imprisoned and experimented on. THEN they were given people to eat and got experimented on again. Well, it's only natural." (Al)

"And then something weird happened that only you noticed." (Deadman)

Al made an exaggerated snap and point motion at Deadman as if he was a contestant on a game show.

"One of the Zombi subjects ate a careless researcher." (Al)

"Sucks." (Deadman)

"Now, everyone was getting a bit crazy and wanted to kill him immediately. You know how these fools get overzealous. So before the axe fell, I went to check up on him. All of the Zombis were kept in isolated cells like lab rats. All in the same condition. And as you can imagine, they were all fucking bonkers. Loud, screaming individuals pissing and punching their cages bloody. But not this guy. He didn't make a single sound." (Al)

"…"(Deadman)

"He was completely depressed. Mentally unstable of course, but nowhere near as rabid or feral as the others. So I investigated the researcher he ate. Turns out his presence was pretty weak. People barely noticed he was in the room, forgot to invite him to parties, that kind of guy, you know the one." (Al)

"Zombis take on the personas of the ones they eat?" (Deadman)

"Influenced more like. If the food has a weak personality, then the devourer's mentality will remain rather undisturbed. If the food has a larger, more volatile emotional spectrum, say a…. violent prisoner? I think it will interfere with the Zombi's emotions." (Al)

"Fuck." (Deadman)

"Feed a Zombi docile meat, nothing happens. Feed them cows with mad cowness in them…"(Al)

"Fuck!" (Deadman)

"You should have come sooner." (Al)

"No fuck, really? And the guy Joy ate was a real sick piece of shit too. God damn it…"(Deadman)

"Bring her in, I'll give her a look over and see what I can do." (Al)

"Haha, nice try, you sly bastard, but I know you just want to experiment on her. Chances are, if I bring her here, she won't be coming back out." (Deadman)

Al stuck out his tongue mischievously.

"How credible is everything you just said," (Deadman)

"Not very much at all! It was only one case and they cut the funding remember? There's a large number of possibilities for it, but my intuition says my hypothesis is right." (Al)

"It probably is. Thanks, I'll owe you one." (Deadman)

"If you really want to repay me, go collect data on the Zombi you domesticated and hand it over to me." (Al)

Deadman deftly took out a small notebook and threw it on the table. Al picked it up and skimmed through it.

*Whistle* "You always were thorough with everything. Day by day observations, some even by the hour. Weight, height, and other details on the two people she ate. Measurements of her body and abilities. Reaction time, bench strength. You would've made a great researcher." (Al)

"Yeah, a real mad scientist. Then you wouldn't be so alone in this lab where you rub everyone the wrong way." (Deadman)

"Hahaha! Madness does enjoy company!" (Al)

Deadman was making his way out of the lab when Al shouted one last thing.

"Here, take this!" (Al)

He tossed a few vials that held some sort of blood.

"You know how the Zombis pick out prey based on certain bodily traits? That one gives out the scent of a body that's cream of the crop quality laced with all kinds of crazy pheromones. It was developed recently so it's not mass produced yet. Thought you'd like to test it out and send me the data. Be careful around your domesticated pet though."(Al)

Deadman nodded and exited.

Al turned to the first page of the notebook where it had a summary profile.

"Joy, huh? What kind of tragically ironic name is that for the heroine of a story?" Al muttered.


	9. The Dark Voice of Hunger That Tells You

**Chapter 9: The Dark Voice of Hunger That Tells You To Eat People**

Joy, her best friend Sarah, and their other friend Margery, were eating at a quaint little outdoor café. They discussed idle gossip, movies, sports, the going ons in each other's personal lives. It was something that could be seen almost anywhere in the world and for the first time in a long time, Joy felt normal.

She was at complete peace. That sense of tranquility was immediately shattered as soon as she took a bite out of a garden sandwich she had ordered.

_Tastes like torn cardboard in between two sponges._

"Is it bad?" (Sarah)

"No, no. I just thought, I've had better. It's still really good though," (Joy)

She gave a bright smile to play it off.

_Now I have to pretend to enjoy my meals, huh? I wonder what kind of expressions I made when I was eating my favorite foods…_

Her mouth watered at the thought of eating meat. Bloody, juicy, human meat.

_**I wonder how they would taste**_.

Joy had that dark thought as she looked at her friends.

_I'm horrible._

_**You should try it. A small bite.**_

_Fuck off. That's stupid._

_**Doesn't have to be whole.**_

_I said. Fuck off!_

Joy was more at war with herself lately. Dark intrusive thoughts would sound off in her mind constantly. Sometimes when she was hunting Zombis, the voice would whisper into her heart.

_**That was fun. Look at all that blood!**_

She inadvertently sighed aloud.

_If I'm lucky, Deadman'll kill me before I go out of control. Maybe I should just talk to him about it and if he decides to end my life, so be it._

Joy sighed even louder.

Noticing there wasn't any sound of chatter, she looked up at the faces of her friends. They all stared at her worriedly.

_Crap. I didn't keep my character in check._

"What's wrong, Joy? You looked like you were in some real heavy thought," (Sarah)

"Uh… Yeah! I was thinking about a certain coworker who's going to give me hell for something."(Joy)

It wasn't very far from the truth. Joy wondered whether they had bought the poor excuse, but they both looked at her with extreme interest. Especially Margery whose eyes were practically shining.

"A coworker, not a boss? Is he male?" she asked like an interrogative detective.

"Um… Yeah. I mean, he is my boss. Though coworker comes to mind more easily since we do equal amounts of work. Sometimes I even do more. Partner maybe?"(Joy)

_Master? Ah… Their brains would probably erupt if they heard that._

Margery held her chin in her hands like she had solved a criminal case.

"Hm hm hm. So Joy is experiencing man troubles. To be honest, a lot of us were worried since you've been single for a while now."(Margery)

"Huh?" (Joy)

"Though it sounds like this guy might not be good for you…. Hmmm is it better that there is a problematic man in the picture than no man at all?" (Margery)

"What?" (Joy)

"No Margery! Joy needs a good man that can match her awesomeness! As her best friend, I refuse to let her go down that path of stupid 'he's not a bad guy, he's just misunderstood' stuff," Sarah chimed in.

_What? What are they talking about? Did I miss something?_

"Joy…" Sarah called out her name and looked at her intensely.

"Yes?!"(Joy)

"If that guy from work is bothering you too much, you should just quit your job. Not only do you rarely hang out with us anymore, the thought of you spending more time with a shady guy makes me even more jealous! I'll introduce you to some good guys instead! So come back to us, babyyyy!"(Sarah)

"Me too! Me too! I am also in favor of the motion!"(Margery)

Margery yelled her agreement and raised her hand as if testifying.

Joy was completely shocked at their funny display. People around them were staring, but the two didn't seem to care. They were that kind of people after all.

_Oh… they think that Deadman…_

Joy threw back her head and began laughing uncontrollably. Her two friends looked at her in confusion. She continued to roar with laughter, an occasional dorky snort escaped in between. The snorting enticed Sarah and Margery to join in her fit as the three women were cackling uncontrollably. This went on for a long while.

_Ah…. I haven't laughed that hard in a while._

"My coworker and I aren't like that at all. He's just a really demanding," Joy explained. "There's no way in hell me and him could ever have any semblance of romance."

""Hmmm is that right?"" they said almost simultaneously.

"Yeah. Things are a bit complicated and stressful between us. But **no**." Joy accented the last part. "There's definitely no romance involved."

Joy's phone suddenly rang. She took it out of her pocket and saw that it was Deadman.

_Speak of the devil…. Quite literally._

"Sorry. I gotta take this, be right back."(Joy)

Joy left with that sentence and walked a ways from the table so that the pair of friends were out of ear's reach. Meanwhile, Sarah and Margery had a small discussion.

"What do you think?" (Margery)

"I don't know."(Sarah)

"Joy says that there's no romance but…"(Margery)

"Hmmm I am of the same opinion, Love Dr. M. I believe we should wait until next time to launch another formal inquiry though." (Sarah)

"I concur." (Margery)

They shared a quiet laugh together.

Unknowing about her friend's chatter, Joy looked for a quiet spot to answer her phone. If she had heard what Margery and Sarah said, she would have likely flipped a table.

As soon as Joy picked up the phone and put it to her ear, Deadman began issuing a command with a deadly serious voice.

"Drop whatever you're doing and get back to base." (Deadman)

It didn't sound like there was an emergency hunt or anything. Joy wondered what it was.

"Okay," she answered shortly and obediently.

Before she could go back to her friends and excuse herself to leave, something violently interrupted her thought process.

_**MEAT!**_

The dark voice resounded deep into her core. A viciously enticing smell had made its way to her nose. The smell of irresistible prey.

_Is it even possible for a human to have a scent like this?_

_**Who cares?! You can tell that their meat is going to be fucking DELICIOUS!**_

Trying to ignore the dark thoughts, Joy began to ration it out carefully.

_I'm supposed to meet Deadman. I'm definitely not dumb enough to follow the smell and eat someone. The real problem is that I know a whole bunch of Zombis are going to be gathering there._

_Someone's going to be eaten if I don't do something about it. _

_**Yeah, eaten by someone else.**_

_I'll go take them out. I don't have my sword, but I've got some knives and the revolver with me._

Joy took out the rather large hand gun and checked it for bullets. The magnum held ammunition of an absurdly large caliber and looked somewhat comedic as it was held by the skinny looking arms. The recoil would severely strain even the most muscular of arms, but Joy had strength that far surpassed any normal human. Another weapon that made the most use out of her Zombi abilities.

She ran immediately towards the scent. Her voices argued with each other.

_**Follow your nose. Eat the meat!**_

_Shut up already! You sound like a crappy cereal commercial or a fast food joint!_

The scent of human prey was enticing.

As Joy got closer to the source of the smell, she gradually saw more roads being blocked off by "construction at work" signs or yellow caution tape. Vaulting over fences and running through a few abandoned buildings, she couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. Joy took out her phone to call Deadman, but had no reception.

"In our line of work, we really should have invested in satellite phones…"

She muttered that regretfully to herself.

_Well, satellite phones aren't perfect either. But what am I supposed to do after I take the Zombis out?_

_**Kill them.**__**Rip them apart!**_

Her thoughts were interrupted as she followed the smell to a large abandoned warehouse in the middle of a vacant lot. A bunch of shipping containers littered the empty space as well. She could see a few Zombis running towards the dilapidated building. Joy looked at the whole situation with a practiced eye.

_It's obviously a trap. Maybe some research facility developed a sort of Zombi attracter or pheromone._

_I guess if there's no one really in danger, I can just leave it to them._

*Bang!*

Joy felt an impact on her right shoulder. She recognized the gunshot sound came from a rifle, but didn't understand why the bullet hadn't caused any real damage or pain. Joy quickly bolted for cover behind a large shipping container. She reached around to the point of impact where she was shot. There was not enough blood that would usually be associated with a gunshot wound. Instead there was a tranquilizer dart normally used on large game like rhinos and elephants.

_Are they capturing Zombis? I needstoasdmak_

Joy felt her mind start to fade.

Animal tranquilizers were incredibly dangerous to use on humans. It was nothing short of overkill to use a method of subduing large animals, on normal sized people. They could easily die from the overdose of harmful toxic effects used in the darts. But Zombis were a different story. They could regenerate as long as the brain was mostly intact.

_I've got to… show them I'm a Slayer._

With the last of Joy's strength, she pulled out a certain ID card from her wallet. Her organs were failing.

_What are the chances that they'll let me go? Aren't I on their side…_

_No. I'm not anyone's side…_

_I'm named Killer of Her Own Kind after all. Is my kind humans or Zombis?_

_I don't knnnkknowww_

A man with a hunting rifled slung up on his shoulder walked up beside Joy's unconscious body and picked up her ID card.

"Hey, Bob!"(Soldier)

He called over to a fellow soldier.

"Take a look. This one's a Slayer." (Soldier)

"Sure it's not a fake? Only Zombis would have found their way to this zone. Also the way she moved."(Bob)

The soldier looked the ID over, front to back. Ran it across a pocket card reader.

"Looks legit. Shit! We killed a Slayer." (Soldier)

"Don't be so sure." (Bob)

Bob was kneeling over Joy's body.

"She's still breathing. If she was human, her insides should have collapsed already. Now that I think about it, I've heard some rumors of a Slayer using a Zombi as his hunting pet." (Bob)

"You think this is her?" (Soldier)

"The fabled Killer of Her Own Kind." (Bob)

"What should we do?" (Soldier)

"What do you think? Load her up with the others. Ain't no one gonna miss her. I doubt her owner would even give a shit." (Bob)

They both looked down at her.

"In the end, you're still a Zombi. Time to learn your place." (Bob)

Deadman arrived at the warehouse six hours later. After Joy never showed up at base, he set out to find her. Fortunately, he had embedded a GPS locator in her body a long time ago. After checking it, Deadman was able to follow her trail to a certain point, but it cut out as if she came into an area with some sort of signal jammer.

Looking closely, he was able to conclude that the whole area was a trap for hunting Zombis. There were signs of bodies being dropped and dragged away. Tire tracks from heavy trucks used for transport. Deadman continued to search for more clues as he had his phone pressed to his ear. He was calling his superiors.

_They should have seen her Slayers identification. But she is a Zombi after all. 50/50 chance they would decide to just let her go in some random part of town, or send her to HQ. _

_In the worst case scenario, she's being shipped to some research facility and I'll have to do a whole lot of shit to get her out. Maybe Al could do something._

He sighed heavily.

_Or maybe I should just leave it alone._


	10. Zombi Fight Club!

**Chapter 10: Zombi Gladiator Ring**

Joy slowly stirred and found herself in a steel cell. She was still dizzy, but eventually began to take her environment in. The cell was surrounded by composite hard metal on three sides. It was completely empty. There was no bed or furniture, or even windows. The only source of light, came through the steel bars that made up the fourth wall. Looking through the bars, Joy fell into despair.

_This isn't a research facility…_

_If it was, I could somehow manage but…_

Joy saw countless cells just like hers, lined up in long rows, on multiple levels. It was a prison. The maintenance looked very shabby. Except for the cells that were modified specifically to hold the Zombi prisoners, the rest of the building looked like it was about to fall apart.

_A foreclosed prison? A Black Site?_

Joy tried to determine if it was a government or military institution. She looked at the guards and saw that they carried themselves like sloppy mercenaries rather than sloppy soldiers. It was a slight difference, but clear.

Joy's mind began running through conclusions and at the same time, putting together an escape plan.

Her mind stopped when she realized a heavy electric collar hung from her neck. She had no mirror to see it, so she could only feel the shape and imagine it in her mind.

_I don't recognize the specs. It's not large enough to fit a decent sized bomb in it. Not one big enough to kill a Zombi…. But if it's just enough to cause some damage to the brain, I suppose anyone could just walk over while I'm unconscious and finish me off before I regenerate._

_Well, let's just focus on getting in contact with Deadman…_

_Part of me is a little afraid he'll just think it's too much trouble and abandon me. He's fully capable of doing that._

Joy decided to reach out and use the "this is all just a big misunderstanding" approach. She called to a pair of guards. They looked at her with disdain for a while before one of them motioned the other to go talk to her.

"Hey, I'm a Slayer. Registered code numer is—"(Joy)

*Crack crack crack crack*

The guard had pulled out a long black stick and tazed her with it.

"Yeah, I've heard about you. Killer of Her Own Kind, right?" The guard laughed loudly. "Well, good thing you've had practice before, cause you'll be fighting a lot of your fellow Zombis from now on."

_What?_

A sick grin came across his face. After some thought, it looked like he came up with a fun idea. He turned to the other prisoners and began shouting; his voice echoing down the long row of cells.

"I think you all know of the famous Zombi traitor! She's killed your friends and family! I present to you, Killer of Her Own Kind! The one that takes her out gets to walk out of here, free!"

_What an obvious lie. But there are idiots who would believe something like that. If exposed to these shitty conditions for a lengthy period of time, anyone would be desperate._

She glared coldly at the guard. He turned around and after seeing that she was unworried, decided to tazer her again. The continuous shock this time lasted so long, Joy didn't know how much time had passed, but wished with all her might that the tazer ran out of battery.

A loud beep sounded off and interrupted the torturing. The guard's radio crackled to life, but Joy couldn't hear what was being said. Her ears were ringing and she ended up vomiting. Through blurred vision, she saw the guard pull up some sort of cart. The pair of guards threw her on it and began wheeling her somewhere. Joy's hearing slowly returned.

"I guess they liked my little advertisement. They called for her fight right after I made that announcement hahaha! That's good marketing! Who are you gonna bet on?"(Guard A)

"I dunno. I mean sure, the other prisoners have it out for her now but she was a Slayer. Killing Zombis is what she does. I think I'll bet big on her before anyone else catches on."(Guard B)

"Yeah, same here. I'd really like to see her lose, but my money is telling me to put them on her."(Guard A)

"And yet you damaged her before the fight. She could lose now because of you."(Guard B)

"She'll regenerate fast enough, probably. She fucking well better. I don't want to lose money cause of this cunt."(Guard A)

The lights on the ceiling flashed before Joy's eyes. The ringing was finally toning down and Joy regained her sense of coordination. She looked down and saw she was lying on a wheeled bed like the ones used in hospitals. There was one major difference, though. She had numerous arm and leg restraints. It gave her a sick feeling of familiarity. It was very much like the bed that a certain prisoner she ate was strapped onto. A deep seated grudge bubbled up briefly.

The guard that tazed her saw that she had regained full consciousness.

"I know the straps aren't really enough to hold you for long, but don't try to take them off or escape. That collar on your neck'll blow a good piece of your brain out. It won't kill you, but it'll sure as hell give anyone enough time to stomp your brains out before you can recover. Well, here's our stop!"(Guard A)

They reached something that looked like an equipment room. The walls and tables were covered with different kinds of melee weapons. All of them were chained or attached to their respective mounts to keep anyone from taking them carelessly.

The guards untied her restraints and tilted the cart violently. It was like towing dirt across a field and dumping it unceremoniously on the ground. Joy fell forward like a rag doll and slammed against the cold concrete floor.

She looked around and saw multiple guards and cameras in the room. The guard who tazed her began talking.

"Pick any weapon. _One_ weapon and don't think about turning it against us."(Guard A)

"… What am I doing here?"(Joy)

"I'd rather not taze you since I'm betting on you. Actually, maybe I should taze you and then bet on the other Zombi. Anyway, stop talking and do as we say. Or go out there with no weapon. That works too, I guess."(Guard A)

Joy had some idea about what was going on at that point. She begrudgingly went towards a large claymore sword mounted on the wall. Though gigantic in size, it was much lighter than the sword she was used to wielding.

The doors opposite from where she came from, had a green light on top of it. Followed by a loud horn, the doors opened. Joy stepped through and felt instantly disgusted.

It was a sandy floor with bright lights shining down. The arena was surrounded by a large electric fence. Behind the fence was a packed audience who were cheering and jeering. Across from Joy, on the other side of the sandy ring, was another Zombi with a weapon in his hand. It was all very pro wrestling.

A loud speaker sounded overhead.

"Our next match will begin in three minutes. For newcomers, info should be available on your electronic pads. Please use it to bet accordingly. Betting will still be available one minute into the match, and then all wages are final."

Joy could barely make out the audience from the bright lights shining in her eyes. They all seemed to have thin electronic tablets and were rapidly tapping away at it. Most likely it had basic information and body measurements of the fighters displayed on it, and allowed the spectators to make bets instantly.

Joy looked over at her opponent and saw that he was a large muscular man. He was at least six feet in height and had coarse skin. Even before turning into a Zombi, he must have been someone who worked a lot of manual labor. Taking in small bits from observation, Joy was able to interpret that he was most likely a construction worker. It was natural to assume that he had high strength, even for a Zombi. The gambling odds were probably leaning his way.

_That's fine._

_**Slice him up!**_

_Is it wrong that I don't feel remotely as uncomfortable with all this as I think I should be?_

_**It's because deep down, you know you're going to enjoy this.**_

A smile slowly appeared on her face, but Joy immediately began to feel shame. She fought down the grin and stared straight at her opponent. He was wielding a giant hammer. Joy cooled her head and assessed the threat with practiced method.

_His posture and balance is off. Breathing's erratic. _

_He's not a professional and his speed is probably low. He'll overcommit to the first strike. Once it misses, his stance will be wide open._

She stabbed her sword into the ground and grabbed a pocket full of sand. Joy rubbed it between her hands and felt the roughness of the grains as it stuck to her palms and increased friction. It was a preparatory technique she learned from Deadman when they often sparred.

Despite the ridiculousness of the whole situation, it was actually well within Joy's element.

_This Zombi cockfighting is nothing compared to having to survive with Deadman. Play their game for now. _

_I'll pace myself and keep alive. With enough time, I'll gather enough information to escape. _

Joy's strict training regimen included escape methods, information gathering, and stealth techniques.

_Or Deadman comes and finds me. If he wants to that is. I'll get out of here soon enough._

The countdown began and Joy refocused on the task at hand. She looked over and saw her opponent sweating bullets. He was nervous. The difference in composure was clear.

3…

2…

1…

The horn blew and Joy shot forward like a cannon. The arena was actually rather wide. Easily four times the size of the rings used in boxing matches and other fighting competitions.

The opponent raised his hammer nervously to counter. As soon as Joy got within a certain range and saw the hammer begin to move, she stopped. Her bum rush was only a feint to draw out the swing. Once the large motion started, it was difficult to stop. The mass of metal swung horizontally and came nowhere close to Joy.

After waiting for the hammer head to pass, she dove in and cut out his legs from under him with a single clean stroke. Once the man fell back, he still had the hammer in his hands. Deadman's training kicked in. "Leave no trace of resistance, no matter how small". His words resounded in her head.

The opponent made a last ditch effort to protect himself and held the hammer above him in a defensive posture. Joy didn't even aim to attack his body, she severed his fingers that held the weapon. The digits flew and the mass of metal fell across his chest. The fight was over. Not even half a minute had passed.

_**Finish him!**_

Joy shook her head to silence the dark voice, but the words seemed to grow louder and louder. Then she realized it wasn't her thoughts, but the audience.

"Finish him… Finish him…" they chanted.

She looked at them and into the cameras with disgust.

_As if I'd obey you._

Joy tossed her sword down and began making her way to the door she entered from. As she walked, the sounds of boos and jeering filled the arena. When she got to the door, it remained closed. There was a camera at the top that was aimed at her.

Whoever was running the show had eyes on them constantly. Joy threw an impatient look as if to say, "Well, what are you waiting for? Kill me or open the door". The gate slowly opened and Guard A came out to talk to her.

No words of congrats or happiness at winning money. He only glared at her and said,

"Finish him off."(Guard A)

Joy already prepared her words and spoke concisely.

"He can regenerate and fight again, can't he? Isn't it in your best interest to keep as many of us alive as possible? Or you can finish him off yourselves. I doubt you'll kill me just because I refuse to take his life."(Joy)

"You bitch… You don't decide—"(Guard A)

"Or here's a good idea! As a special gimmick, you can offer audience members the chance to kill him themselves. I'm sure there's some people in the audience with some real sick tastes. You can even use raffle tickets or something. How about the one who bet the most money? It would encourage people to make higher bets."(Joy)

The guard's expression widened in shock.

"Just how fucked up _are_ you?"(Guard A)

"_Really_ fucked up. You guys are a fucked up bunch too, but I'm probably a hundred times more. And after me, I know a guy who's a thousand times more. I'm sure you thought the whole tazing thing was a really cool bad guy thing to do, but it's nothing but a cute kindergartener's bullying to me. Now go discuss my suggestions with your boss. That is unless he's listening in on our conversation right now."(Joy)

Joy glanced at the camera.

The guard began to open his mouth in retaliation when his radio crackled.

"Better answer that," she said smugly.

The guard begrudgingly answered his radio and spoke in a muffled voice so that Joy couldn't overhear.

The announcer's voice boomed over the loudspeaker.

"As a new special promotion, if the losing combatant survives, a member of the audience will get a chance to deal the final blow themselves! For this match, we've decided to offer that chance to the highest bidder!"(Announcer)

Joy smiled at the success of her ploy.

"Take me back to my cell, will you?"(Joy)

The guard finished speaking to his boss and took out his tazer to respond to her smugness. After realizing what he was doing and remembering how Joy mocked him for it earlier, he put it back into its holster. Instead, he took out a gun and began shooting her.

The other guards almost stopped him, but he had already emptied his clip before they could properly react. Joy had collapsed on the floor with her legs full of holes. The guard bent down in front of her.

"How about that?" (Guard A)

His smile was full of sick perversion.

Joy took inventory of where she was shot. A few hit the arm. The main focus was in the legs. Her left ear was had an extra hole. One bullet tore through her cheek, giving her mouth a bloody extension to her left ear. Half her face looked a bit like an alligator's. Her lips bent into a painfully bloody smile.

"Better, but still no good. You want to be a main villain but sadly you'll never rise any higher than nameless stupid henchmen A. No, A is too high for you. You'll be pathetic henchmen C instead."(Joy)

"Hmph! Still talking all high and mighty in that state. And you offered your species for a spectacle worse than a simple death. You're the scum of the earth!"(henchmen C)

He told the guards to pick her up and toss her onto the cart.

_I don't care if I made those Zombis suffer a worse fate. As long as I'm not the one killing them, I'm fine with that. You call me scum of the earth, but you guys are way worse than I am._

_I won't stain my hands with someone's life._

_If someone else kills them, that's fine with me. It's practically the same thing Deadman does at the end of a hunt anyway._

_As long as I don't do the actual killing, I'm fine._

That was the cruel principle Joy held herself to. Her thoughts drifted away as her brain released chemicals to dull the pain and begin regenerating her body.


	11. The Escape

**Chapter 11: The Escape**

Joy lied silently on the cold metal ground of her cell. The days in the Zombi gladiator arena passed distortedly. The prisoners had no windows or outside contact, no regular meals, no sleep. As a result, they had no idea how much time had actually passed. They used to be able to tell by the guard shift, but now it had become randomized to decrease the likelihood of someone predicting the schedule and aiming for a window to escape. There were no real fixed moments of time or a fight agenda.

Animosity towards Joy had increased exponentially during her stay. She continued to win decisively against all of her opponents. The guards constantly lied and reminded the prisoners that whoever killed her, would be freed.

Despite the vigor Joy's opponents displayed, they never stood at her level. None of them were professionally trained in combat. They amateurishly swung whatever weapon they had chosen, only to be taken out by Joy's deftly accurate blows. The matchmakers even started setting her against multiple opponents at once.

This was of course, not a fair representation of Zombis. If there were any capable ones that could fight well, they wouldn't have been caught in that obvious trap at the warehouse in the first place. And Joy was only there because, even after realizing it was a potential trap, wanted to save the life of the bait.

During her time between fights, Joy planned out her routes for escape. Unfortunately, the information gathering was very slow and yielded little result. Because she was drugged when she was brought in, she had no idea what the rest of the facility looked like when she entered. The prisoners never went to a cafeteria, no outside courtyard time, no trips to a medical room when they were injured. Besides the route between her cell and the arena, she had absolutely no idea how to map the rest of the structure.

It was incredibly frustrating. Even after listening and observing the guards, only minor tidbits about break rooms and bathrooms could be confirmed. It seemed like the only option she had would be to try escaping during a match. The audience's exits shouldn't be as restricted or reinforced but even then, there was no way to confirm this either. And then of course, there was the collar.

Monitors were constantly being watched with people's finger on the detonation switch. That was made apparent after some prisoners put up a minor amount of resistance and had half their faces blown apart. If they couldn't find a prisoner during attendance, their collar would detonate immediately.

One time, a guard was going around checking the cells and tapping on an electronic pad to mark roll call. He muttered an "oops" as he tapped the wrong thing and started talking on the radio.

The prisoner in the cell blew up in front of him. The guard only sighed and yelled into the radio,

"I said he was here! Oh well. Make sure you send a new collar I guess. Huh? 'Don't need him anymore cause he cost us a collar'? Fine, open the door so I can stomp his brains out."

That was the kind of facility it was. The Zombis were practically roosters or dogs that were pitted against each other for entertainment. No one cared how badly they were treated, and they were easily expendable.

Joy was somehow able to keep her composure above it all. A certain henchmen C had spared every moment he could to ridicule her. Even with all the abuse, Joy was unaffected. What really tortured her was something entirely different.

The dark voice grew louder as time passed.

_**Just kill this fucker! Bite his neck off and be done with it! You're hungry and you know it.**_

_Shut up! I would practically be committing suicide if I killed him now. And I'm not hungry yet. It's only been a month probably._

_**Really?**_

And for the first time, Joy let her composure slip a bit. Her stomach grumbled.

_No way! I can't have been here that long yet. No, no, no, this isn't good! How did this happen?_

Joy thought carefully about it.

_I've been regenerating frequently since I came here. It's possible that it's sped up my body's metabolism… _

_Shit! Even if I know the cause, it can't help me now._

Joy bit her thumbnail as she tried to come up with a plan. She would be fed of course. Joy had seen from her cell that some of the most prized fighters were fed live humans. They just tied some people up and shoved them into the cell.

The real problem for her lied in the morality of it. If they toss someone in here that didn't deserve to be eaten, she wouldn't know what she would do. Joy could go with the same reasoning she had with Deadman before where she didn't really bear the responsibility and was forced into this situation. But the thought still weighed heavily in her mind.

Over the next few days, Joy began observing the "meals" more closely. She came to the same conclusion as she had before. The "food" was completely random. Sometimes they were hobos, some were prostitutes, and there were even members of high society that had fallen into an inescapable amount of debt. One thing was for sure, unlike the human trafficker she had eaten before, they were not people that committed enough evil to warrant being eaten alive.

The day eventually came when her stomach growls were loud enough that asshole henchmen C took notice. After some boring verbal abuse, he began asking about what kind of people she liked to eat. Joy wondered if she could use reverse psychology and wanted to measure his reaction.

"A little helpless kid would be good! The softer the better."(Joy)

"God, you really are screwed in the head. Maybe I should get you the shittiest kind. How about an old man at the end of his life? Or maybe some sick bastard with a fatal disease? Can you tell if a guy has AIDs or cancer in him?"(Henchmen C)

"Fuck you!" (Joy)

"Hahahaha!" he laughed in satisfaction as he walked away.

_Man, I'm glad he's an idiot. If he brings me someone terminally ill, I might be able to work with that. I'd prefer a horrible criminal, but I don't know how I would swing it._

…

…

_How fucked up…_

_Before, I would rather die than eat someone willingly. _

_Now, here I am. _

_Walking in the moral grey area that's supposed to be black and white. Maybe I really am a monster already…_

_Come on, Deadman…_

_Come and kill me already…_

Joy began putting the finishing touches on her escape plan.

She thought about how to break through the fenced arena. There was a point outside of the battle area where the electric conduits connected. It was incredibly hard to see, but it was without a doubt connected to the cage. It's possible that taking it out wouldn't shut the electricity off, but it was a calculated risk to take. If it even decreased the current a little bit, it would work to her advantage.

Joy would choose a spear as her weapon and thin it out during the match. She would just have to manipulate her opponent's strikes a bit. Then, when it had a small enough diameter to fit through the gaps in the cage, she would take out the electric conduit.

After that, Joy had to break out and take one of the most influential people hostage. She was able to determine who the richest in the audience were, after watching the manner in which they tapped their electronic pads. Some looked nervous when they worked the digital screen. Some looked pompous and loose. There were a number of signals.

After taking a hostage, if she angled her body correctly and constantly shifted it, none of the guards would be able to get a clear shot. Unfortunately, she would basically have to wing it from there.

_Maybe I can get my hands on a gun. Draw the hostage towards one of the guards and disarm him in the confusion?..._

_Ahhhhhh_

She groaned in frustration at how many unknown factors there were in the middle and end game. Joy had decided to break out before her meal, when her opponents thought she was weakest. She had even been faking losing her strength during some of her matches and while she was in her cell.

It was all set and ready.

Suddenly the cell door opened and a small child was shoved in.

_What?_

The small body was tied up, his mouth bound, and his eyes blindfolded. He fell clumsily to the ground and had no way of sitting himself up with his tightly bounded limbs. He squirmed like a helpless worm on the cold hard floor.

Joy tried to keep her composure, but felt it slip.

"You didn't think I'd fall for that trick before, did you?" (henchmen C)

A toying voice cut into Joy's ear.

"I saw your eyes shine when I mentioned getting you a guy that was about to die. You're not as smart as you think, you stupid bitch. All these guys think you're some fucking badass killer." (henchmen C)

He shook his head as if everyone was below his level of intellect.

"But I noticed~ Hehehe... You never killed a Zombi with your own hands. Not. One. So I started thinking… What if you're actually a big ole softy?" (henchmen C)

His smile was brimming with confidence. Joy couldn't hold it in. She was developing a cold sweat and she began trembling.

"That look says it all! HAHAHA! Enjoy your meal, you fucking cunt! HAHAHAHAhahahaa!" (henchmen C)

"HENCHMEN C, YOU FUCKER!" (Joy)

She rushed the steel bars and began banging them. He only laughed harder.

Joy untied the child. He couldn't have been more than ten years old. As soon as he was free, he began shaking the steel bars to let him out. Then there was crying. It was hours before he finally started talking to Joy.

"What's your name?" (Joy)

"… John." (John)

"Hi, John. My name is Joy." (Joy)

He looked up timidly.

"Can I leave?" (John)

"I wish you could… Just wait a little bit, okay? I'll try to figure something out." (Joy)

"Are you a Zombi?" (John)

Joy froze.

_In this situation, was there any point in lying?_

"Yes… I'm a Zombi." (Joy)

"Are you gonna eat me?" (John)

"No, of course not." (Joy)

"But the man told me you will." (John)

_Henchmen C must have been talking to him while he was bringing him over here. It looks like he kidnapped this kid especially. _

…_Wait a second!_

"John. Listen to me very carefully. I am not going to eat you." (Joy)

She moved close to him. He tried to get away but was cornered. Joy began whispering in his ear.

"I need you to tell me all about how you got here. What you heard, what people said, and if you can, the steps and directions you went until you got here. I know you were blindfolded and everything but you have to tell me. Every little thing makes a difference. It's going to help me get you out of here." (Joy)

"…"(John)

"Please, John. It's the only way." (Joy)

"… Alright… I'll try." (John)

Of course it was a long shot, but it was better than nothing. Even with the smallest descriptions, the image of the structure faintly came into existence in Joy's mind. It was difficult, and the information wasn't very consistent. When asked to repeat specific things, John sometimes said something completely different from what he had said before. Even though Joy gently pressed him to elaborate, he would end up breaking down and start crying.

_Shit! This is no good. I still can't put together a good plan. It was already almost impossible to escape. But now I have a kid with me? And the info he gave me isn't trustworthy at all…_

_**You should just eat him and try again. If you keep getting meals, you'll eventually gain enough information to break out.**_

Joy's stomach growled loudly. John flinched and began trembling when he heard it. Joy gave a gentle smile, but it only seemed to make him more afraid. She gave up and went to the opposite corner of the cell and tried to come up with a plan.

A day passed before John started talking again.

"I'm hungry. Are we going to get food yet?" (John)

"Sorry, John. Food—"(Joy)

Joy's froze in horror.

_There is no food..._

_No water…_

_Humans can only survive three days without water…_

_No, no, no, nononono._

"Hey! Guards! The kid needs food and water! Hey!" (Joy)

The guards on duty looked at her and laughed.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you trying to fatten him up or something?"(Guard)

_Fuck! It's like I thought. They don't have any intention of feeding him…_

She turned to John. He was just sitting there hugging his knees. He looked smaller and more fragile than ever.

Joy felt around her mouth to see if there was any moisture, but felt nothing. She had stopped producing saliva. There wasn't any kind of liquid to give him. She could only offer blood, but there were numerous articles citing that any devouring of a Zombi would turn a human into one.

_Maybe I should turn him into one?_

_No! That's not an option!_

_Shit!_

*Bang Bang*

Joy and John turned to the source of the noise and saw henchmen C hitting the bars with his baton.

"Hey kid, don't let that woman fool you. She's a Zombi. Worse than those monsters that hide under your bed. She'll eat you if you let your guard down. Oh, are you hungry?"(henchmen C)

He took out a candy bar and waved it in front of the kid's face. John followed it as if he was in a trance. Back and forth, and right into the guard's mouth. After taking a single bite, he threw the rest away randomly on the floor behind him.

Henchmen C laughed maniacally as the tiny boy began to cry.

"Oh yeah. Forgot to mention one thing kid. We got a rule around here. Whoever kills this young lady, gets set free. You're a little handicapped so I guess I can give you a little assistance." (henchmen C)

He pulled out a small knife and dropped it in front of the kid.

"Have fun~"(henchmen C)

Henchmen C walked away while laughing.

John frantically grabbed the knife and pointed it at Joy with both hands. The emotions of fear, anger, and hope were all mixed into his twisted expression. Joy had no idea what to do.

_Maybe I should just let him kill me…_

_I doubt it would solve anything though. That knife is just a crappy fruit knife. It can't even stab through my skull to get to my brain. He could slowly sever my head from my body and crack my skull open, though. _

_No._

_He doesn't have the strength or the will to do it, even if I gave him specific instructions._

_I could crack my own head open? Maybe trigger the collar to explode?_

Joy only stared at John emotionlessly. She felt completely paralyzed with hopelessness. Joy couldn't even muster the strength to calm John down anymore.

_I don't even like kids. I can't get through to them at all._

She looked away from him and towards the ceiling, too mentally exhausted to start planning again. John may have taken it as moment of weakness when Joy looked away, because he started running towards her.

"AHhHhHhHh!" (John)

John screamed as he stabbed wildly. The cell filled with the sound of blade shallowly piercing flesh. Despite the pain, Joy made no attempt to stop him. The young boy's arms eventually grew tired and dropped the knife on the floor.

_Crap… Now I have to regenerate. The hunger's going to be worse._

_Whatever. It doesn't matter anymore…_

She slowly turned around to see how the boy was doing. John was bending over the small pool of blood that came from her with his tongue sticking out. A sick look of desperation in his eyes.

Joy moved her arm with all her might to slap him. The hand barely made it in time after being damaged by the knife. John was knocked across the cell and slammed hard against the wall. He crawled back to his corner and began crying.

By the third day, the boy looked severely ill. It looked like he was going to expire any second. Joy came up with no kind of countermeasure. She was also on the verge of dying of hunger. The stabbing had accelerated her starvation.

_**He's going to die. You might as well eat him!**_

_You know what… Maybe I will. I'll eat him, survive, and when I get the chance, I'll get revenge for him._

_*Scoff* as if I could do something as cliché and stupid as that. I'd rather have the kid eat me instead._

_**Give in. You've already given up on escaping. Just bite into his flesh already.**_

_I won't._

_**DO IT!**_

_I won't!_

_**YOU'LL DIE!**_

_THEN I'LL DIE!_

…_.._

_Grrr….._

_No, I won't! I'll survive god damn it!_

Joy began sobbing. She had no moisture to shed tears. She could only tremble and jerk pathetically.

_**How are you supposed to live? Come on. Just sink your teeth into that kid ALREADY!**_

_I WON'T! Me and that kid will survive!_

She felt herself cry louder.

_Deadman's still out there! I'm an important tool for killing Zombis. He wouldn't just leave me to die! If I die, it'll be because he killed me! I won't stand to die any other way!_

_We'll all live! _

_**YOU WON'T!**_

_We'll survive!_

_**YOU'LL DIE!**_

_I WON'T LOSE TO MY HUNGER!_

_I'LL ESCAPE FROM HERE!_

_I WON'T DIE!_

…

…

…

…

The dark voices stopped. Cruel and cowardly thoughts faded and disappeared. Using pure force of will, Joy's outburst had banished hunger from her thoughts. True peace and comfort flowed through her body as she took a deep breath. She sighed heavily with relief.

…

…

*Pit pat*

"Huh?"(Joy)

*Pit pat*

"What's that sound?" (Joy)

She brought her hands up to her eyes.

"Oh. They're just tears. I did get really emotional there for a second." (Joy)

And that was all Joy could hear. The sound of her tears falling to the floor.

"Huh? How can I make tears?" (Joy)

She wiped her eyes and looked down at her hands.

They were covered in a deep dark red.

_Huh?_

Joy looked around the empty cell.

_Where's John? _

_Huh?_

The dark thoughts were gone. The hunger in her stomach was gone. Joy kneeled in a tiny pool of blood in front of her. There was only dead silence. A deep dark void devoured the whole room.

*Pit pat* it echoed.

Her fists tightened and stabbed into her palm. Joy crushed her teeth together and made an ear splitting gnawing sound.

"aaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"(Joy)

Joy screamed like she never had before. A shriek of true despair that went on forever.

Her throat ripped and she should have been in horrible pain. Joy didn't care. She continued screaming.

Until she no longer had a voice. Until her vocal cords tore and all that could be heard was gasping. She opened her mouth, contorting her body, looking up as if cursing the world. Until there was no more air in her lungs, no audible sound came from her.

Just a shaking sad thing.

A group of mercenaries watched Joy's cell on a security monitor. As soon as she ate John, a great roar erupted and the men began yelling.

"Easiest four hundred dollars I ever got."

"Damn it, if you were gonna eat him. Do it fucking sooner!"

"I really thought she was going to let the kid eat her. There goes my paycheck."

"Don't be such a sore loser. I'll treat you to some dinner, hahaha!"

The exchanging of bet money went back and forth between the men. Only henchmen C didn't join in. He didn't make any bets. He just wanted to make her suffer.

"Well, time for the cherry on top," he muttered happily.

He jumped off his chair and began walking out of the security room. A coworker had heard his ominous sentence and wanted to ask about it.

"You've still got more to put her through?"(Coworker)

"Oh yeah. I'm going to make that bitch suffer for a long time."(henchmen C)

"Well, no one's willing to bet against her anymore, so if she's mentally fucked enough to lose, there's a chance for a lot of money to be made." (Coworker)

"Yeah, yeah, I don't care about that anymore." (henchmen C)

"Fine. So what are you doing?" (Coworker)

"Well, you know those sick fucks that get off on Zombis?" (henchmen C)

"Necro something or whatever? I just don't get those guys. I mean, yeah you can use a condom, but it's like 50/50 chance you'll get infected." (Coworker)

"Yeah, pretty much. Anyway, there's a client that's been making his rounds and it's finally Miss Killer of Her Own Kind's turn. He's watched all her fights and is a big fan." (henchmen C)

"Did you get a good price?" (Coworker)

"Heh! Told him it was a special free offer since he's such a loyal customer." (henchmen C)

The door to Joy's cell opened slowly. Blood patterns stained the walls from when she had punched it with all her might. It was deeply dented in some spots, despite it being top class durable material. Joy was standing in John's blood as she turned slowly towards the opening doors. Emotionless and empty, her gaze only looked blankly forward.

The scene was all too familiar.

_How many times am I going to open this door and see her in a pool of blood?_

_Has the day come where she won't scream at me?_

"Did you eat someone?" (Deadman)

She nodded silently.

"Did they deserve it?" (Deadman)

She shook her head.

Joy walked towards the door and close to Deadman.

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment and then he tapped a certain pocket. Joy swiftly drew a knife from the pocket, cut off the collar as well as parts of her neck, and threw it out of the cell. It immediately detonated and caused a minor explosion. The guards retreated to get better weapons than what they had. The whole prison block began to erupt with noise.

"I've got an escape route planned. Shouldn't be too difficult—" (Deadman)

"I'm not escaping," Joy interrupted.

"What?" (Deadman)

"I'm going to level this place." (Joy)

He was silent for a moment. Measuring her up.

"Are you going to kill them?" (Deadman)

"Yes." (Joy)

The reply had no trace of hesitation or doubt. It lacked the presence of any kind of emotion.

"If you want to kill me afterwards, I'm fine with that. If you want to kill me right now, then do it." (Joy)

Deadman looked on in contemplation.

"You should hurry with your decision. The window's closing if you're planning on killing me right now."(Joy)

"… Are you still human?" (Deadman)

"…"(Joy)

She took a glance at John's pool of blood in the cell and placed her hand above her heart.

"… It hurts a little… So I think so. Though, I can't make any promises after I kill the people here." (Joy)

Deadman sighed.

"Good enough, I guess." (Deadman)

He handed her the heavy revolver that only she could wield and a shoulder bag full of ammo. The pair walked slowly across the den of evil.

"Deadman searched tirelessly for Joy after her abduction. He confirmed with HQ that no one had made any report on the Slayer known as Killer of Her Own Kind. Next, he tried phoning Al.

"Mmmm don't see anything about a captured Zombi with Joy's description. I can check with other facilities and call you back later. It's only been less than a day so it's possible that they just haven't registered her yet."(Al)

"Right."(Deadman)

A few days passed and there was still no word. Deadman followed every lead he could find. He even reluctantly called Joy's friends who for some reason, had a very keen interest in him.

He interrogated Zombis instead of simply killing them. Poked around several research facilities and government institutes, but found nothing.

Looking over the site of the trap for the umpteenth time, he found certain glass shards with a small amount of dried residue on them. Next to the shards was a small timer that probably worked as a trigger. He analyzed the fractures and found that it matched the Zombi attracter he received from Al. He immediately put in a call.

"That's impossible. Those vials aren't supposed to be available yet," Al's voice came from the phone.

"Yeah. And I have one. It's not impossible that other people have it too."(Deadman)

"I guess but... it really is impossible. We only developed a limited number. I'm even staring at the tubes right now…"(Al)

"Al… I think you should test those remaining tubes."(Deadman)

"Okay…?"(Al)

Deadman heard the phone being placed on a table. After some beeping and clicking, a machine could be heard running in the background. A few minutes passed and the noises stopped. There was complete silence. The next sound was probably a chair being thrown through a glass window. He could faintly hear someone muttering "Fuckers, fuckers, fuckers, fuckers, fuckers," repeatedly. Al picked up and began to speak.

"I'm sending you a list of everyone that had access to the project and those who knew about it. The most likely fucking cocksuckers are at the top! I'll take the odd numbers, you take the evens!"(Al)

"I'd rather go this alone, Al. Though the thought is truly touching."(Deadman)

"Shut the fuck up! I'm going to turn these pricks into Zombis and sentence them to eternal purgatory due to experiments!"(Al)

The phone call ended and the data was sent to Deadman's phone. He stared at the addresses and sighed.

Over the next few days, Al and Deadman looked for the perpetrators of the missing vials. They eventually found the group of mercenaries who used them. After some disturbingly violent interrogating, they found out about the illegal Zombi fighting ring. The two had trouble locating the exact location of the facility and had to resort to finding their customers.

After extensive research, Al and Deadman found a frequent customer of theirs. Few days later, some more interrogating, and they had the location of the abandoned prison. It was actually located in a far and desolate country. Deadman used the kidnapped client's name, saying that he was an acquaintance and wanted to partake in a disgusting sex ritual and the rest is history, which bring us up to now!"(Al)

Al made an exaggerated spread of his hands as if he had performed a magic trick.

Joy looked at him without any emotion.

"So, who is he?" she looked at Deadman, while pointing at the crazy scientist in the backseat.

"I'm Al!"(Al)

"He's Al."(Deadman)

"I'm Deadman's friend!"(Al)

"He's my fri- he's not my friend. He's an old acquaintance that does Zombi research."(Deadman)

Joy stared at the energetic scientist before looking forward again. An awkward silence filled the interior of the rented SUV. Al looked back and forth between Deadman and Joy.

"My god! Is it always this nerve rackingly quiet with you two?"(Al)

He was met with only silence.

"I mean! Deadman I can understand. But I thought you would be at least a little more talkative. It's a six hour drive!"(Al)

Deadman looked at Joy and gave a quick order.

"Knock him out."(Deadman)

The command was obeyed in an instant as Joy threw a punch straight to Al's chin. He fell into a strange pose and was out cold. Peace once again filled the car.

"Do you want to talk about it?" (Deadman)

"No. Not right now."

The voice was distant and soft. Joy stared blankly out the window and watched the scenery pass by.


	12. Joy

**Chapter 12: Joy**

The party of three reached a certain military hangar and waited for a private plane to arrive and take them home. Joy looked suspiciously at the large cargo in the back of the SUV. They were definitely body bags. Following her line of sight, Al answered her nonverbal question.

"Those guys are going to be my new guinea pigs and experience an eternity in hell. My own personal touch of revenge for messing with my lab. Oh yeah! We picked up this guy too!"(Al)

Al reached into the back and opened a few of the bags to take a look at their faces. On the third one he checked, he pulled it out and the body landed with a hard thud. Al unzipped the bag and revealed who was inside. It was henchmen C.

"I was going to sentence him to eternal purgatory, but you have more of a right to decide his fate than I do."(Al)

Joy looked down at the unconscious face for a while. Deadman and Al were observing her carefully. Deadman still didn't have an accurate take on Joy's state of mind and was cautious of the possibility that she was too far gone. She had killed freely in the prison. Descended down on the mercenaries like an angel of death, shooting and cutting them down at every turn. When all the mercenaries were slaughtered, she took control of the detonation switches. Every Zombi collar exploded simultaneously, causing a demented bloody version of a water show. They proceeded to finish them all off quickly after. It was grounds enough to have her killed.

Joy stared emotionlessly at the unconscious henchmen C.

"One of you has some salts, right? Or maybe stimulant. I want to wake him up."(Joy)

Neither of them moved. They were weighing the options a bit, but Joy didn't look impatient. She only stared and waited with eyes as deep and blank as the ocean. Al then shrugged and pulled out a small container from his lab coat. He opened the cap under henchmen C's nose, waking him up instantly.

The former guard looked around frantically and finally he rested his eyes on Joy.

"Wait a minute! I—" (henchmen C)

"I don't need to hear anything from you," Joy interrupted. "I don't plan on torturing you or anything like that. It's a waste of time to give you that much attention. I just didn't want your life to end in ignorant bliss. See my face and know. I'm the one who snuffed out your life."(Joy)

"No, plea—"(henchmen C)

*Shing*

Joy drew her sword across henchmen C's head. It was instantaneous. He probably didn't feel any pain.

"After all he's done, you let him off the hook with that?" (Al)

"I don't like knowing he's alive, and I don't want to waste any time."(Joy)

"Hmmm… Well, there's nothing wrong with that, I suppose."(Al)

Then a hand rested on Al's shoulder. It was Deadman.

"Al. I think you should just leave the rest to Joy too."(Deadman)

"Whaaaat? But what about my revenge?!"(Al)

"This whole thing is on her now. Leave it."(Deadman)

"You just don't want to bring along extra baggage!" He leaned in to whisper. "And you want to observe her actions more?"

"All of the above."(Deadman)

Al sighed like a child whose parents had just refused to buy him a game.

"Fineeee… Joy! They're all yours. Hm? Man, does that mean I have to wake every single one of them up?"(Al)

"No," she replied shortly.

Joy took out a few bombs and set them under the SUV. After moving a certain distance, she detonated them without the slightest hint of reluctance. The vehicle and its contents exploded into a tall tower of fire and smoke.

After dropping off Al at the lab, Deadman and Joy went back to their base. Deadman had been carefully watching her the whole time, but still wasn't able to draw any conclusions on what to do. The safe option would be to end her.

Joy hadn't uttered a single word the whole time. When they entered the apartment, she walked around and touched the equipment, the table with weapons on it, the computers, the torn furniture, etc. as if it was a place she had long been away from.

"One and a half months. It feels like it was a lot longer than that." (Joy)

"Yeah," Deadman muttered.

Her voice was so soft. Small, distant, and fragile. Like the sound of a light bell. Low in volume, but resoundingly clear.

"I wonder if anyone noticed." (Joy)

"Your parents tried to contact you, but Sarah gave an excuse so they wouldn't worry. Even though, she herself was going crazy." (Deadman)

"Ah. Sorry you had to deal with that. She can be a bit pushy and melodramatic." (Joy)

"It's not like her worries were unfounded all things considered. It wasn't a problem." (Deadman)

"Hehe," a very soft, fragile giggle escaped Joy. "Thinking about how she probably yelled at you, I'm sure you were plenty annoyed by it."

*Ahem* "I wasn't really." (Deadman)

Although he was.

"Deadman." (Joy)

"Hmm?" (Deadman)

Joy looked at him with a sad smile.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" (Joy)

*Sigh* "Can't you just accept that I can act like an upright human being if I feel like it?" (Deadman)

"No." (Joy)

Deadman threw her a dirty look, but her expression didn't change.

"Because the Deadman I know, isn't like that at all. I need you to be who you always are. You're not allowed to change remember? You're not allowed to be hypocritical." (Joy)

He gritted his teeth.

"You're a Slayer that shows no compassion towards me or any Zombi. That is, unless all of this is an act, in which case I would say that it's well played. Hehehe~" (Joy)

"…"(Deadman)

"Have you decided if you should kill me yet?" (Joy)

"And if I decided to?" (Deadman)

"I wouldn't mind." (Joy)

That simple answer hung in the air for a while. It was like a cold wisp of condensed air that lowered the temperature of the room ever so slightly.

"I don't kno—"(Deadman)

"You should kill me." (Joy)

Deadman froze and stared hard at her. Joy's sad smile was still there. She spoke with a calm and gentle voice. The picture definition of a tragic heroine…

"I didn't feel anything when I killed those people, Deadman. My heart didn't flinch at all. I didn't feel sad afterwards, not an ounce of guilt." (Joy)

"And the person you ate?" (Deadman)

Joy gave a slight shiver.

"A boy no older than ten. Completely innocent. Dead because of me." (Joy)

"I see…"(Deadman)

Deadman picked up a knife and stabbed it towards her head.

There was only silence. He had stopped right before breaching the skin, but Joy showed not even the smallest amount of resistance. She only continued to stare patiently into Deadman's eyes.

He sighed.

"You'll live and keep working for me." (Deadman)

He sheathed the knife and turned away. Suddenly, there was the sound of sobbing behind him. Deadman turned around and saw Joy's calm mask break. Tears fell quickly.

"Why? I killed all those people. I ate a little boy, Deadman…"(Joy)

"And you'll live with that for the rest of your life. I told you that as long as you were human and proved yourself useful, I wouldn't kill you. If you're in that much pain, you're still human." (Deadman)

"You're being hypocritical." (Joy)

"I'm not. You've learned a valuable lesson and became a much more effective weapon. Along with that, the leash on you has become even more reliable now. You'll carry that little boy's life, Joy. If you died now, his life would have been given up in vain." (Deadman)

"…"(Joy)

"The old man. The little kid. Their lives ended so you could live. Kill evil, Joy. Make their lives as worthwhile as possible. It's your responsibility. To die now would be to completely waste their losses. And do you think you deserve a simple repercussion like death after taking the life of an innocent?" (Deadman)

"So you're now guilt tripping me into living?" (Joy)

Deadman said nothing.

"To go on, while what little is left of me inside is constantly torn apart?" (Joy)

"… Yes. Let it drive—"(Deadman)

"Shut up… You really are a sick manipulative bastard…"(Joy)

She cried while looking sadly at him. It was a sharp contrast to the violent fury she had displayed so many times before. It was a look that accused Deadman of sentencing her to pain immeasurable. To walk the earth forever racked with survivor's guilt, killer's guilt, and whatever else.

No more threats of killing her if she wasn't up to snuff, or disobeyed him. That would have been an act of mercy at this point. She was now forced to live.

"I really hate you and I'll never forgive you…"(Joy)

"…I know."(Deadman)

The following days, Joy literally said nothing to Deadman. He would command her and she would nod to confirm she heard his orders. They had no problems hunting, and when she trained, she did so diligently by herself. Deadman couldn't complain and Joy continued being an effective weapon. She still avoided dealing the finishing blow. Otherwise, nothing was out of expectation. Her obedience still unhesitant and unquestioning. He decided her mental state was just recovering and deferred to leave the issue alone.

The situation took a sudden change when she had stood before Deadman and made a peculiar request. Rather than a request, it was more like asking for his cooperation where his only answer was yes.

"You have to pretend to be my boyfriend."(Joy)

"No," Deadman replied quickly.

Joy stared at him for a few seconds, while he stared coldly back at her. After seeing her unmovable stance, Deadman sighed and asked,

"Why do I have to do such a stupid thing?" (Deadman)

"Cause Sarah and Margery have been bothering me nonstop about my absence. You are suspected as the main culprit. They have it in their mind that we're playing some tragic romance in a soap opera or Korean drama." (Joy)

"How fucking stupid." (Deadman)

"Agreed…"(Joy)

"How much can they interfere, really? From what I've seen, they have the mind frames of giddy little school girls. They'll definitely turn into those gossipy obnoxious old women when they grow up." (Deadman)

Deadman scoffed with the highest level of contempt he could muster.

"I'm aggravatingly aware that that is truly the case. But they've threatened to follow me to work, or 'kidnap' me, or a number of things of that nature… They piss me off to no end sometimes." (Joy)

"You're a professional damn it! Find a countermeasure!" (Deadman)

"This_ is_ a countermeasure. It's the perfect kind where my opponent is given exactly what they want, and their false suspicions are confirmed." (Joy)

*Grrrrr*(Deadman)

Deadman growled in frustration. Joy was describing a common method of information warfare. If Germany is afraid of Allied tanks at the borders, give them evidence to confirm their fears and limit their movements. The logic was so sound that it pissed off every fiber of his being.

"Fine! God, this sucks! Hey, are you really going to be able to pull it off. My acting is fine but—"(Deadman)

"Ah. Going by how much I hate your guts, it certainly will be quite the hurdle. But I'll give it my best effort~ You should make sure you don't reveal your annoyance at them with your short childish temper. Really. Make sure you act like an actual adult and not screw it up." (Joy)

"Hoho! What passive aggressive speech that was a horribly imbalanced at 10% passive, 40% aggressive, and 50% bitch. With such unfeminine quality, there's no possible way that I will find it difficult to pretend to remotely have positive feelings for you!" (Deadman)

"Hahaha! That's great then!" (Joy)

"Hahaha! Yes indeed!" (Deadman)

"Hahaha!" (Joy)

"Hahaha!" (Deadman)

"HAHAHA!" (Joy)

"HAHAHA!" (Deadman)

After some practicing, the pair was able to emulate the strange anomaly that was called "romance". Although they had both experienced being in a relationship before, they struggled with displaying any passable forms of affection for a partner that they absolutely despised. Deadman and Joy struggled through their rehearsals, until the promised day of their performance arrived.

Many details will be omitted, but the disgusting romantic comedy tragedy was carried out barely passable. After excruciating hours of interrogation, loss of pride on the actors' sides, and a false promise to hang out all together again in the future, the love tragedy comedy was finally over. The pair returned to base and collapsed on their respective sofas.

"And we're still hunting Zombis tonight?" Joy asked tiredly.

"Of course. Even though *mumble mumble*…"(Deadman)

His voice trailed away caused by mental exhaustion.

"At least it's done," Deadman's dialogue trailed back to being audible for that last part.

"Don't be so sure…"(Joy)

"What?!" (Deadman)

"As you said before, Sarah and Margery are the gossipy, schoolgirl, obnoxious, old hag types. There's a likelihood that they may leak intel to my parents. In that case, we will have to confront their forces next." (Joy)

"Tell them we broke up, if they do." (Deadman)

"Oh! Yeah, that's perfect! I'll make sure to tell them that I dumped your ass like chucking space trash into the sun." (Joy)

"What a cheeky peasant you are. Where did you learn such abhorring disrespect for your benefactor?" (Deadman)

"That would be from my abhorring benefactor, dear master." (Joy)

Joy smiled with a mask that hid a cold fury of -10 degrees Celsius.

*Hmph!*

Deadman saw he was losing that battle and decided to prod another front.

"I can't even believe you're tired! You're a Zombi aren't you? Are you such a crappy Zombi that you feel fatigue? Failure as a human? Failure as a Zombi on top of that?! What disappointment!" (Deadman)

"Oh? Do you really think so? Trying to use the excuse that you're human, are you? Would you like me to turn you into a Zombi as well? Then you can be a real monster instead of pouting about it, saying you're a monster on the inside, like a prepubescent teenager trying to be cool in front of his friends~"(Joy)

Deadman glared at her, while Joy turned away with a decisive "hmph". They silently began to pack their gear for the hunt to come. In the room with only the sound of equipment moving, there was a warm sense of tranquility in the air. Although Deadman would never admit it, he was grateful that things were more or less, back to the way they were. Back before Joy had eaten the human trafficker and acted like a blood thirsty maniac. She was his apprentice once again.

A certain level of harmony is required to produce the best efficiency after all.

"What do you expect of me?" (Joy)

Deadman frowned.

_Just when it was beginning to be a little more comfortable around here, you have to come out and ask such a foreboding thing that will undoubtedly lead to serious annoying talk._

He sighed.

"What do you mean?" (Deadman)

"… It was obviously a lot trouble for you to come get me from the prison." (Joy)

"So?" (Deadman)

"'So', you did all of that for a weapon? A pet Zombi that's supposed to be completely dispensable?" (Joy)

"It wasn't all about you. Got to kill a lot of Zombi prisoners, didn't I? Got rid of a bunch of scum of the earth too. I'm a Slayer. Slaying evil creatures, human, zombi, and anything else is what I do." (Deadman)

"Lies. You didn't save me out of some misplaced feelings of affection did you?" (Joy)

Deadman turned around to look at her. Joy was staring at him with eyes like cold lithium. He sighed and scratched his head.

"Of course not." (Deadman)

A small smile appeared on Joy's face.

"Good. If that was the case, I would have left immediately. So, tell me. Why did you save me? I know it isn't because I'm just a weapon. You should have abandoned me if that were true." (Joy)

Deadman looked down at his worn out hands. There were many scars and deformities on them.

"I wanted to make the _perfect_ weapon." (Deadman)

"…"(Joy)

"Zombis regenerate, they've proven to have extended life, possibly eternal life, super human ability, etc. etc. When I'm long gone, you'll still be here. I'll die better, knowing that something's out there putting a knife to evil's throats." (Deadman)

"…"(Joy)

"It's all planned out perfectly. Preserve your humanity so you never kill without conscience. Rack you with guilt that compels you to live on and fight evil dedicatedly. Though, you not actually dealing the finishing blow is still a problem." (Deadman)

"Not really. I just don't feel like it. I'll do it if you order me to," she answered offhandedly.

Deadman took a measuring look at her.

"You don't have any problems with what I just said? I'm basically sentencing you to an eternal life of endless killing and suffering." (Deadman)

"I… don't mind." (Joy)

"Why?" (Deadman)

"I understand it. It's not like I can do anything else now." (Joy)

Deadman grimaced.

"And besides," Joy added in a sadly smiling manner. "I trust you."

"*Hmph* Really? I thought you hated my guts." (Deadman)

"I do. Don't make any mistake about that, I absolutely hate you and will never forgive you for the things you've done. But I can trust you whole heartedly… You are the person I trust the most, to the point that I put my life in your hands." (Joy)

"What a ridiculous contradiction! You're really willing to listen to my every order, huh? Maybe I trained you too well…"(Deadman)

Deadman felt a great surge of anger for some reason. He wanted to test how far Joy's stupid beliefs went. Test her and ridicule her as she failed. He thrust his hand out in front of her face, specifically her mouth.

"Place your teeth over my hand," he ordered.

Joy didn't hesitate, and slowly moved to the side of his hand and bared her teeth.

"Now bite down." (Deadman)

She gently bit into his hand. It wasn't even hard enough to leave an indentation in his skin. Deadman swallowed dryly. Anyone's heart would race a little in that situation. The tense atmosphere could be cut with a knife.

"Eat my hand." (Deadman)

The command hung in the air of the musty apartment for a while.

Joy didn't move.

"Kill me." (Deadman)

No response.

Joy only continued to look deep into Deadman's eyes.

*Hmph*"See? You can't do it." (Deadman)

She released his hand to speak.

"Those are the only orders I will not follow." (Joy)

"That's pretty weak willed shit." (Deadman)

"Don't misunderstand me, Deadman. I need you. The one who would end my life at any sign of me becoming a soulless killer, is only you. I have faith in that decisiveness. If you told me to…If you simply gave the command, I would die without any hesitation whatsoever. You're the only one who can end things when I go too far. You're the only one who can kill me. I trust in that. I trust you." (Joy)

"…"(Deadman)

"So I can never end your life." (Joy)

"…I really don't get you…"(Deadman)

"So stupid, of course you do. You know me better than anyone. That's why you didn't kill me before. That's why you saved me from the prison, why you trained me, why you put your hand in my mouth. You know me. As a result of everything, you actually…."(Joy)

Deadman realized why he was so angry before. It was because

"… you also completely trust me." (Joy)

A mischievous smile appeared on Joy's face.

"And that fact burns you…"(Joy)

Deadman gritted his teeth. He didn't like that. He didn't expect such a thing to develop at all. A bond of complete and mutual trust and understanding. That was the relationship Deadman and Joy had formed. It was nothing as simple as love. The pair didn't even share an ounce of fondness for each other, but the chain linking them was immeasurably thick.

"Sucks doesn't it?" Joy asked with a big smile on her face. "Must have been nice when you were talking down to me this whole time, keeping yourself detached. But from this point forward, you're going to have to suffer with me."

"…."(Deadman)

Deadman sighed so heavily that his soul almost escaped from his mouth.

"This one time. I'll let you win this argument." (Deadman)

Joy smiled.

"I order you to take lives from now on." (Deadman)

She nodded seriously.

"You really don't have any problems doing that?" (Deadman)

"I've been taking lives for a long time now. Even before the fight ring incident. You said you were responsible for the prisoner meal, Boris. Same thing could be said from the very first hunt to the last. You always dealt the finishing blow. Even though I never actually took the life by my own hand, I pretty much as good as did. I'm not so delusional as to believe their deaths were not my fault. I killed them. I see that now." (Joy)

"You don't have to." (Deadman)

"I do. It's part of my responsibilities. A part of my burdens." (Joy)

Deadman understood and nodded.

Joy sadly giggled.

"It's strange. I don't carry a single bit of fondness for you, but… I'm slightly glad to know you?" (Joy)

She held her chin and contemplated her message a bit before continuing.

"Because something that people spend their whole lives looking for, even possibly more than someone to love, is someone to truly understand them and to truly understand another." (Joy)

Deadman wanted to say something. To counter that argument and tell her she was wrong. Joy only gently continued.

"The same goes for you. Even if you don't want to admit it." (Joy)

She picked up and fastened her gear.

"Let's go, Deadman. It's time for work." (Joy)

**Epilogue: Will There Be A Continuation?**

Al spun in his lab chair with a cigarette in his mouth. A machine beeped to notify the user that it was finished with its analysis. Al looked over the results on the screen and smiled widely.

"Ah~ I really thought the guy was supposed to be some evil master mind or something. Turns out that he's just a fool that uses the same tricks twice. Disappointing~~"(Al)

Al began to spin around in his chair again before suddenly stopping.

"Unless… He's doing it on purpose? The guy's practically screaming 'I'm here! Come find me!'. If that's the case, things could get a bit dangerous…."(Al)

He let out a laugh that accurately and disturbingly fit the image of a mad scientist…. If that mad scientist was also doing cocaine and speed at the same time.

"Hehehehahaha….

MWAHAHAHA!" (Al)

Al stared at the organ that he was analyzing with obsessive interest.

Deadman frowned at his ringing phone. Whenever it displayed the caller ID "Al" he always seriously contemplated ignoring it. In the end, Deadman picked it up.

"Yeah, Al?" (Deadman)

"Big news, best friend!" (Al)

"You're not my best friend." (Deadman)

"*GASP* You mean to tell me that you've placed JOY above me?! How dare you cheat on me like that! There will be consequences, you two timing bastard!" (Al)

"I'm hanging up." (Deadman)

"WA-WA-WA-WAIT! I actually do have some important news." (Al)

"Then get to it!" (Deadman)

"Mysterious Mastermind X has made another appearance. He's left a pretty easy to follow trail too. Easier than those clues on Blue's Clues." (Al)

Deadman grinned evilly.

"Send me the data!" (Deadman)

He hung up.

Joy was cleaning her gun when she looked over to him.

"You look happy. Your boyfriend tell you about some big fish we're gonna hunt next?" (Joy)

"The biggest. Hehehe!"(Deadman)

After laughing to himself for a while, he looked at Joy with great expectation.

"Joy, you're the one that's going to be the most excited." (Deadman)

"That right?" she said as she raised an eyebrow.

Deadman pointed at Joy, specifically a certain part of her upper body.

"We're going to go get the guy that gave you that organ and turned you into a Zombi."(Deadman)

The gun parts she was cleaning fell on the table. She didn't speak for a while, but then began trembling with excitement.

"Let's get the fucker!" Joy said, matching Deadman's bloodthirsty grin.

_**Author's Note**_

If you read all that and made it through to the end, holy crap! Thank you for doing that, I salute you.

Okay, I know many Author's Notes are usually a pile of pretentious crap so I will try to make this as not boring as possible, fill in some info I may have glossed over, blah blah blah.

**Dude… some of that shit was dark…** yeah… that was what I was going for. I even surprised myself that I wrote it out like that. I wanted to try writing something grungy and I just tried to go as grungy and soul wrenching as I could. Some things were based on really disturbing vivid dreams I had. Maybe I'm just subconsciously dark. That would explain how easy it was to come up with all these dark ass scenarios.

**Random comedy sitcom like situations.** I just thought it would be good to insert some of that stuff in there. Can't be depressed all the freakin time… And I put it pretty much out of the way of the main plotline so I'm satisfied with that. Only if it interfered with the main story, would I have thought it a poor decision. I honestly thought it wouldn't be able to do any harm, and if people disliked it, they could have skipped over it and the story wouldn't have changed overall.

**Joy the Tragic Heroine.** Yes, I made that name choice very ironically. Was it poor taste?... I didn't think so. But yeah, I put this character through… I lost count of how many crucibles. Also in a short amount of time. I just really wanted to power develop her character. Just accelerate her from unfortunate, vulnerable, to tough mental, badass. Deadman becomes kind of a measuring stick for her. At first, it's a one side rules all. After a while, she starts being able to at least interact and rebuttal with him. And then by the end, she's Deadman's equal and even his superior at times. It's one of the signs of her development that I tried to communicate. That and of course her language mannerisms, emotional intelligence, among other things.

**Deadman's past.** To be continued in future book(s)…. MAYBE

**Are Deadman and Joy…** No. they are not.

**But in the future, will they…** Not a chance in hell.

**Relationship between Deadman and Joy.** Yeah, I wanted to create a really different kind of relationship between characters. Where the characters legitimately disliked each other, but somehow had a bond stronger than the most intimate lovers. It's like how the people that hate you or are detached from you, can see you more clearly than your closest friends.

I specifically didn't want to give them a romantic relationship. I wanted to give them a relationship that was somehow more? If that makes sense? Like, there are couples, family members, and best friends that keep secrets from each other, right? maybe out of fear of being scorned, broken up over, fighting, etc. But Deadman and Joy don't have such things. In that way, they may have a mutual trust even stronger than if they were in a relationship where they were fond of each other. At least that's how I wanted to communicate it as. Whether it worked or not, is on the reader after all.

**Tokyo Ghoul.** Yes. It is based on Tokyo Ghoul… kind of? The most similarities were at the beginning and then I went and tried to do some way different stuff from there. Mostly tried to utilize similar settings rather than plot or character or whatever else.

**I didn't want to do a lot of fight scenes.** I know, I know. The potential was there, and even after proof reading it so many times, I always kind of second thought "I give them all these tools and skills, but there's only like… three fight scenes?" In the end, I stuck with my gut though, and decided to omit a lot of it. I wanted to concentrate on the characters more. Plus, I wanted to leave it to the reader's imagination. Or I'm just lazy. I wonder which…

**Second short novel/book?** Possible. I've put together some ideas, and might write it if I get the whim. Also, if there's somehow enough visible support for one, then I'll be more inclined to write it. Otherwise, it's on the back burner.


End file.
